BHUBANESWAR: The ruling BJD on Sunday met Odisha Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Surendra Kumar and sought intervention of the Election Commission of India (ECI) for immediate rollback of the Centre’s decision to shift the Bhubaneswar office of Central Organisation for Railway Electrification (CORE) to Bangalore. 

The party alleged that the move of the BJP Government at Centre is a clear case of violation of Model Code of Conduct and the decision has been taken with an intention to lure voters of Karnataka ahead of the coming Lok Sabha elections. 

A seven-member delegation of BJD led by party general secretary Badri Narayan Patra submitted a memorandum to the CEO in this regard. “Shifting of this important railway office to Bangalore is a conspiracy of the BJP Government at the Centre. The party has taken the decision to garner votes in Karnataka by highlighting that they have done something significant for the people of the southern State. However, the move will affect Odisha and destroy the electrification process of railway projects in the State,” they said.

The BJD leaders also told Kumar that the poll code specifies that the Governments at Centre and States cannot take any policy decisions till the completion of election process. 
However, the decision for closure of Railway Electrification (RE) office in Bhubaneswar has been taken on March 13, three days after the Model Code of Conduct came into force across the country. 
“This blatant violation of the poll code by BJP through its Central agencies does not augur well for democracy and will affect the conduct of free and fair elections. The BJD is hopeful that the ECI will immediately intervene in this matter and direct Railways to roll back its decision,” said Patra.
The BJD leaders also alleged that the recent bifurcation of Waltair division from East Coast Railway was done by the BJP-led Government at the Centre to garner votes during the coming elections in Andhra Pradesh. 

On the other hand, BJP State vice-president Samir Mohanty rubbished the allegations and said the party has no role in the decisions taken by Railways. 
BJD has the right to pursue the matter with the CEO if it feels that there has been any violation of poll code. But its allegations against BJP are baseless, he said and added, “Our party has always given priority to Odisha’s interest and will continue to do so.”