Bhubaneswar: Amid grand celebration for Bhubaneswar Foundation Day today, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) left no stone unturned to take on the state's ruling party BJP over absence of Bhubaneswar MP in the city on the special occasion. 

"The Smart City Bhubaneswar is celebrating its 77th Foundation Day today. However, Aparajita Sarangi, who is representing Bhubaneswar in Lok Sabha, is not present at an event on this auspicious day," Bhubaneswar Mayor Sulochana Das said. 

"The Lok Sabha Member always remains absent whenever we invite her for an event. This was proved today. An invitation was also sent to her for a celebration on Bhubaneswar Foundation Day. But, she did not prefer to come to attend the event here as she is busy at her party's training programme in Puri. For her, the city and constituency are least priority than her party," she said reacting to allegations by the MP for not inviting her for any programme in the city. 

"Today, people of Bhubaneswar are celebrating the city's foundation day with much fanfare. On this special day, the MP had immense responsibility to be with people. She could have visited Puri for party's programme after gracing the event here. But, she did not feel it as important for her," the BJD leader said. 

Notably, Aparajita Sarangi had been complaining on social media platforms slamming the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) headed by BJD's Sulochana Das for not getting invitation for programmes in the city.