The tall claims of State Election Commissioner (SEC) Ajit Kumar Tripathy of being impartial have now been exposed,” said BJP State president KV Singh Deo said on Monday.
In a statement, Singh Deo said the BJP had given several proofs regarding the SECs “prejudice and bias” in handling the alleged violations of the model code of conduct by the Government during the recent elections to the urban local bodies. But all this fell on the SEC’s deaf ears. This encouraged BJD leaders and Ministers to involve in violations of the model code and they rampantly used money and muscle power to lure and threaten people to win the elections, alleged Singh Deo.
“Tripathy’s role in the BJD’s alleged win in the UlB polls is far bigger than its leaders and Ministers. Killing his conscience and ethics, Tripathy nurtured an illegitimate platform for the Naveen Government to win the polls,” he alleged.
“Even if Tripathy is in a prominent post of a Constitutional body, he has been allegedly acting as the director of a company, named Multi-Disciplinary Centre on Safety, Health and Environment, against which several cases of financial irregularities and embezzlements were shown by the CAG in its 2009-10 and 2010-11 reports. This has clearly exposed his credibility, and the Government blackmailed him on that ground. This made Tripathy not to accept any case of alleged violation of the model code even if he was in the know of it,” said Singh Deo.
Elections to the Bhubaneswar and Cuttack Municipal Corporations along with the deferred UlB polls in western Odisha are on the cards. Under such circumstances, holding of the crucial post of the SEC by a “tainted person” like Tripathy may result in anarchy. He must be removed from the post forthwith,” demanded Singh Deo.