Srikant shares dais with candidates

BALASORE: Days after Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik was found with a sarpanch and panchayat samiti (PS) member candidates in an election meeting at Tangi in violation of State Election Commission (SEC) guidelines, Union Minister Srikant Jena also courted controversy over alleged sharing of dais with two PS member candidates at Nilagiri. Even as Naveen got a clean chit from the SEC over the matter, Jena’s presence with the candidates on the podium has put him in the dock. The Union Minister was caught on camera while sharing the dais with PS member candidates Minati Singh and Rama Chandra Jena at a meeting in Sajanagarh on Friday. While Minati is contesting from Sajanagarh panchayat, Rama Chandra is in fray from Jambadiha panchayat. A PS member candidate Ahalya Shaw, BJD, from Sajanagarh alleged that the Minister not only shared the dais with the candidates but also campaigned for them. “Identifying them as contesting candidates to the gathering, he appealed to the people to vote for them. It is a violation of the model Code of Conduct prescribed by the SEC,” she demanded.      BJD leaders here also accused Jena of violating the code for the panchayat polls. BJD State secretary and observer for Nilagiri constituency Jyotiskar Mohapatra has lodged a complaint in this regard with the SEC. According to the model Code of Conduct, the candidates contesting for the post of ward member, sarpanch and panchayat samiti member cannot use party symbols and the photos of their respective party leaders. Therefore, leaders of political parties cannot campaign for them. Jena, however, denied the charges. He said he campaigned for the ZP member candidates for zones 11 and 12. “I have not introduced the PS member candidates. In fact, I have not even seen them. They might have climbed up the dais without my notice,” he said, maintaining that ‘sharing dais with the candidates is not a crime’.