Suvendu Adhikari requests Centre to take action against IAS officer for floating 'baseless allegations' against DVC

Kolkata, Sep 27 (IANS) Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, on Saturday drew the attention of the Cabinet Secretary, Department of Personnel & Training (DOPT), while accusing a senior IAS officer of creating false narratives against Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC) almost similar in lines to the canards by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee who frequently accused DVC of aggravating flood situation in the state by releasing water from the dams without giving prior information to the state government.

Adhikari had a made a social media post on Saturday, wherein he attached a video in which the district magistrate of Hooghly, Mukta Arya, makes similar allegations against DVC while attending a community Durga Puja pandal in the same district.

IANS, however, was not in a position to verify the authenticity of the video. The leader of the opposition has also tagged the current Cabinet Secretary T.V. Somanathan and the CEO (West Bengal), Manoj Kumar Agarwal.

“Is this what our state has come to? A government official, entrusted with serving the people, openly peddling lies against a public institution, acting as a sycophant to impress her boss, so that the ruling party makes cheap political gains?,” the leader of the opposition said in his social media post.

There, Adhikari also demanded that Election Commission of India should observe the conduct of such officers who will be in charge of the assembly elections in a few months’ time.

“Can we have faith on such biased officers who will be entrusted with conducting free and fair elections?” Adhikari questioned.

Arya, as the district magistrate of Hooghly is also the district election officer (DIO) of the same district.

Incidentally, the theme of the Puja pandal at Khanakul in Hooghly district this year is how different pockets of the Hooghly district are suffering during every monsoon allegedly because of DVC.

“This year's theme of Ghoshpur Sarbojanin Durgotsav at Khanakul is "DVC's Water: The Woes of Khanakul !!! This Puja Pandal was handpicked by CM Mamata Banerjee for virtual inauguration as the objective of the theme is to malign the Damodar Valley Corporation (DVC), a respected Central Government organization. One can understand Mamata Banerjee's association, because it's a shameless display of political opportunism,” the leader of the opposition pointed out in his social media post.

--IANS

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