Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi on Thursday came down heavily on the state government for not inviting her to the state-level function to celebrate the Capital Foundation Day.
The capital city of Odisha, Bhubaneswar, whose foundation was laid by the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru on this day in 1948, turned 75 on Thursday.
Launching a scathing attack on the government on the issue, Sarangi said: “I have been elected as the MP of Bhubaneswar by the people. It’s the people who have elected me. I have not been the MP because of the mercy of the government. By not inviting me, the government has insulted the people of Bhubaneswar.”
Stating that this had been done deliberately she said: “They had done it earlier. I had raised the issue with the chief minister earlier. Now they have committed a blunder again. Not extending an invitation to an elected MP on Capital Foundation Day, is an expression of huge disrespect for a constitutional post. Let me think of taking legal action on the issue.”
Capital Day Celebration Committee (CDCC) vice-president Pradyumna Mohanty said: “We should not be blamed for it. Earlier, when we were celebrating, we were inviting all sections of people. As per the government’s decision, the function is conducted jointly by the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, different government agencies and the Capital Day celebration panel. It’s a government decision not to invite her.”
CDCC chief Pradosh Patnaik said: “We had advised the government to invite her. The omission of city MP from the guestlist is unfortunate.”
The city turned 75 on Thursday. Colourful marchpasts were held to mark the occasion. Speaker of the Odisha Legislative Assembly Bikram Keshari Arukh took the salute in the presence of other dignitaries, including ministers — Ashok Panda and Pradeep Kumar Amat. Bhubaneswar mayor Sulochana Das was also present.
Odisha was carved out as a separate state on April 1, 1936 with Cuttack as its capital, which was eventually changed to Bhubaneswar on April 13, 1948. Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had laid the foundation stone of the city.
During its 75-year journey, Bhubaneswar has grown by leaps and bounds and the master plan of the city prepared by German town planning engineer Dr Otto Konigsberger seems to have been vitiated.
The city has got the tag of a Smart City. Many national institutes like All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), India Institute of Material Science, National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER) and several engineering colleges, private universities and medical colleges have come up in the city.