Congress demands removal of Odisha SEC

The Congress today demanded that Odisha Governor SC Jamir immediately remove State Election Commissioner Ajit Kumar Tripathy for allegedly failing to take action against BJD ministers on violations of the model code of conduct.
"We demand removal of Tripathy from the post of SEC before the elections to the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation," OPCC president Jaydev Jena said after a party delegation met the Governor and submitted a memorandum.
Alleging that the SEC appointed by the state government was partial, the memorandum claimed that though he had evidence against Finance minister Prasanna Acharya, the BJD vice-president, he had not taken any action against him.

The finance minister on November 17 while campaigning for the BJD candidate in ward no 19 in Bargarh had allegedly threatened that funding to the urban area would be stopped if people voted for the Congress instead of the BJD.
Both the Congress and BJP had complained to the the SEC alleging breach of model code of conduct by the minister.
Earlier the Congress had brought charges of model code violations against minister Damodar Rout for using a beacon on his vehicle during campaigning and Rajanikanta Singh, another minister, for allegedly misusing his office for election related work.
Tripathi, on his part, said "I hold a constitutional post and have been appointed by the Governor. I am accountable to the Constitution and constitutional authority, not political parties.