Coming down heavily on the Commissionerate Police on the Odisha Jan Morcha’s (OJM) application seeking permission to take part in BMC poll campaign, its president Pyarimohan Mohapatra said, “The Commissionerate Police has followed the path of the State Election Commission (SEC) by disallowing the OJM to take part in the BMC poll campaign.”
This shows that the Government machinery is being misused for the interest of the ruling party and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is scared of the OJM, Mohapatra said.
Stating that the police can’t take such action without the permission of the Chief Minister under which they operate, Mohapatra expressed concerns as to how Patnaik, being head of the Government, could grossly misuse the Government machinery to suit his interest.
It may be noted here that OJM general secretary Jagneswar Bahu on Saturday morning had sought permission from the DCP to campaign in some wards on Sunday and Monday.
As Babu did not get any permission by Sunday, OJM president Mohapatra wrote to Police Commissioner RK Sharma seeking his immediate intervention in order to allow the party leaders to campaign from Sunday afternoon as Monday is the last day for poll campaign. But Sharma did not give any reply to Mohapatra by Sunday evening.
“The Police Commissioner’s silence till the dead end shows how the police, which operate under the CM, act partially in election management and damage the democratic rights of the Opposition parties,” Mohapatra pointed out.