BHUBANESWAR: Opposition parties including BJD and Congress on Thursday raised questions over the timing of the decision of Chief Electoral Officer RS Gopalan to seek voluntary retirement, alleging that the officer was under pressure.
BJD leader and former minister Arun Kumar Sahoo questioned the circumstances surrounding the senior IAS officer’s decision, stating that things were not as transparent as they looked.
“There must have been pressure on the officer to resign. Why should any senior IAS officer opt for VRS less than two years before his retirement? There must have been pressure on him to resign,” he alleged.
Referring to the recent voluntary retirement from service by former Bhubaneswar DCP Jagmohan Meena, Sahoo alleged that two All India Service officers seeking VRS denotes the officers were feeling uncomfortable working under the BJP government in the state.
Claiming that there had been large-scale irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in the state, the former minister pointed out that the BJD has alleged that more than 27.50 lakh voters were excluded from the rolls and the matter was being concealed. He alleged that voter data was manipulated during the SIR.
Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Bhakta Charan Das also raised doubts over Gopalan’s decision to seek VRS in less than two years before his retirement. “We have a strong doubt that the senior IAS officer must be under pressure. He must have resigned to escape from the prevailing situation,” he alleged.
Das too claimed that there had been large-scale irregularities in the ongoing SIR of electoral rolls in Odisha, and alleged that the arbitrary changes in the voter list had eroded public faith in the election process.
Describing Gopalan as an efficient officer, the OPCC chief said things were not as simple as they looked. He must be under some pressure for which he took VRS, he added.