Hours after an IAS officer in Karnataka was suspended for checking Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s chopper in Odisha ahead of elections, reports have emerged that incumbent petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan broke into a scuffle with officials after he allegedly refused to let his chopper be checked.
The spat between Dharmendra and police officials took place at Burla in Sambalpur on Monday after he landed at the MCL helipad.
The Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship can be seen yelling at Election Commission officials to “keep quiet” when the teams reportedly attempted to check his chopper. The official, as well as the police on the ground, can be seen trying to pacify the minister. Pradhan then asks the official if they can question the Chief Minister of the state (Naveen Patnaik) like this. The police official is heard responding that they are merely following the protocols as laid down by the Election Commission.
Following the incident, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the current ruling party in the state, filed a complaint with the Election Commission on Wednesday. The BJD asked for action to be taken against Dharmendra for allegedly “misbehaving and preventing government officers from conducting their duties of checking his helicopter along with a sealed suitcase in his possession".
The party also demanded that the contents of his sealed suitcase be inspected and made public due to apprehensions that it contained cash.
“We also demand that the contents of the sealed suitcase, which was in his possession, is informed to the public, especially since apprehensions of him carrying cash in that sealed suitcase is being suspected at large,” the letter stated.
This incident is being highlighted soon after Mohammed Mohsin, a Karnataka IAS officer who was deputed as a General Observer, was suspended with immediate effect for allegedly checking Prime Minister Narendra Modi's helicopter in Odisha's Sambalpur on Tuesday. According to the order of suspension given by the Election Commission, he was suspended as “SPG protectees are excluded from checking.”
The Congress has alleged that there was no rule that exempts SPG protectees from being searched. "The rule cited governs the use of official vehicles for campaigning. It does not exempt PM's vehicle from being searched," the Congress said in a tweet.
There have been routine checks in the states are going to elections this year. In Odisha, the vehicles of Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik was checked and in Karnataka, ahead of the second phase of the Lok Sabha elections, Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy was also checked.