BMC seals BJP MP’s office for flouting Covid guidelines

BHUBANESWAR: The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Saturday sealed the office of city MP Aparajita Sarangi for allegedly violating Covid-19 guidelines, leading to the BJP national spokesperson threatening to work on the road.
The move comes a day after the state government wrote to the Centre demanding action against her for putting the life of others at risk after a purported video showing Sarangi celebrating her birthday with hundreds of women went viral.
The BMC said Sarangi’s office will remain sealed for 15 days during which it will be sanitized.
“The video showed clear violation of Covid-19 regulations in terms of the bar on congregation, maintenance of physical distance and wearing of mask. The premises where the congregation took place is hereby sealed for 15 days. The names and addresses and other details of all other participants need to be furnished for further intervention,” the notice signed by R N Jethy, incident commander and zonal deputy commissioner of the BMC, stated.
Sarangi admitted she got carried away during her birthday celebrations, but claimed she had her mask on. “Some of our women workers came to wish me and they requested me to remove it for a while. I got carried away. I haven’t violated any norm. Had I broken the rules, I would have been Covid positive by now,” she said in a press conference, organized outside her sealed office.