New Delhi, November 1
In an embarrassment to Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Ajit Jogi in the run up to the Assembly poll, the Election Commission today rejected his plea against transfer of the Collectors of Bastar and Jashpur, both accused of violating the model code of conduct.
According to sources, the Election Commission had yesterday asked the Chhattisgarh Chief Secretary to send a panel of alternative names for its consideration.
In its communication to the state Chief Secretary, the commission is understood to have said that Bastar Collector L.N. Suryawanshi was guilty of violation of the model code of conduct by distributing school bags bearing Mr Jogi’s photograph even after the EC’s ban on it and Jashpur Collector B.S. Anant was guilty of distributing spectacles in an official programme with Dr Renu Jogi, wife of Mr Jogi, and had travelled with the Chief Minister, violating the code.
Mr Jogi had met Chief Election Commissioner J.M. Lyngdoh here yesterday and urged the commission to reconsider its directive against these two officials.
Meanwhile, the BJP today condemned the stubborn attitude of Mr Jogi and urged the Election Commission to be more “proactive” and “vigilant” in the run up to the Assembly poll.
“The EC has a bigger role to play in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, where the Congress is blatantly violating the code of conduct ahead of the Assembly elections,” BJP President M Venkaiah Naidu told newspersons here.
Terming Mr Jogi’s attitude as “contempt” of its statutory authority, Mr Naidu said “never before has any Chief Minister argued in such a manner and been adamant against the decisions of the commission.”
