The Congress on Saturday alleged that the IAS and IPS officers who were seen in a video about river conservation featuring Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his wife, Amruta, had violated the service rules.
The party also demanded Mr. Fadnavis’s resignation. State Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant said the All India Service rules don’t permit IAS and IPS officers to take part in activities of private organisations. He asked if they were forced to appear in the video.
“The Chief Minister’s Office claims that these people were invited by [private organisation] River March to take part in the video. Does it mean the government allows them to take part in such activities without taking permission? Disciplinary action should be taken against them for flouting service norms,” Mr. Sawant said. He alleged that the sequence featuring Ms. Fadnavis was shot in the core area of the Sanjay Gandhi National Park, where shooting is not allowed unless special permission is obtained.
“The government said the agency T-Series was roped in only because they have a good support base on YouTube … However, the company’s logo can be seen in the whole video, which means the video has been produced by T-Series. We must know what were the financial dealings with this company, for which the CM has shot videos earlier too,” he said.
“The CM should take moral responsibility for violation of norms and we demand that he resign,” Mr. Sawant said.
