Bhubaneswar, April 2: In a major development, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday reportedly ordered the transfer of senior bureaucrat and Mission Shakti Secretary Sujata Karthikeyan to a non-public dealing department with immediate effect.
The orders were issued within hours of the a BJP delegation met rhe the ECI in Delhi accusing the bureaucrat, wife of Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader VK Pandian, of “misusing” her position to mobilise women attached with self-help groups “for electoral gains for the Biju Janata Dal”.
Thr Mission Shakti Department was launched on March 8, 2001 by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik with the objective of strengthening the women’s empowerment process through women’s self-help groups across the State.
In its representation, the BJP demanded that Odisha cadre IAS officer Sujata Karthikeyan should not be given any responsibility till the assembly election and the Lok Sabha polls are over as she was “indulging in open, blatant and gross, misuse of authority, government machinery and manpower for influencing voters through SVEEP for electoral gains of BJD.”
