Congress candidate for the Ali Assembly constituency Debendranath Sharma on Thursday lodged a complaint with District Election Officer and Collector Ratnakar Rout that two Government officials campaigned for his BJD rival and Minister Pratap Keshari Deb and, thus, violated the model code of conduct.
The two are Gyana Ranjan Samal, Clerk of Janata High School, Palimi, and Jagannath Tripathy, Supervisor of Cuttack Central Cooperative Bank, Ali.Sharma alleged that Tripathy had on March 26 night organised a meeting at his house in Bhatapada village wherein BJD candidate Deb and several SHG activists and youths were present. Tripathy reportedly assured youths of jobs and the SHG members of exemption of loans they have with the Cooperative bank if they vote for Deb.
Sharma also informed the DEO that he has evidence in this regard and can produce if wanted.Similarly, Sharma alleged that high school Clerk Samal was campaigning for Deb after he succeeded in deleting his name from poll duty.Acting on the complaints, DEO Rout has directed the Ali Tehsildar to conduct an inquiry into the alleged matter and to submit a detailed report in this regard, said official sources.When contacted, Rout said he issued show-cause notices to the two officials on Friday asking them why action would not be initiated against them for dereliction of duty and misconduct. They were asked to submit reply within 24 hours.