Bureaucrats’ Involvement in MP’s ‘Ekatm Yatra’ Leaves Congress Fuming

Bhopal: A woman district collector carrying Adi Shankaracharya’s charanpadukas (wooden sandal) and her counterpart in other district holding the saffron flag as part of ‘Ekatm Yatra’ has left opposition Congress fuming in Madhya Pradesh.

Mandla collector Sufia Faruqui’s pictures carrying charanpadukas of Shankaracharya on her head during the ‘Yatra’ had gone viral on Wednesday. Soon after, the BJP state media in-charge Lokendra Parashar shared Faruqui’s pictures on Twitter applauding her gesture as an example of communal harmony.

Faruqui carried the sacred footwear for around one km while welcoming the yatra in Mandla on Tuesday. The collector’s act, however, did not go down well with the Congress.

“Sufiya ji, this yatra is nothing but pure politics. Collectors and officers are best advised to stay away from politics and maintain a respectable distance from such over involvement. Not good for their careers,” Congress Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha tweeted.

The leader of Opposition Ajay Singh alleged that the Collector did so for exhibiting proximity to the ruling party which was in violation of civil service rules. I would write a letter to Chief Secretary asking whether such an act was allowed for bureaucrats.

“While misusing respected Adi Shankaracharya ji’s name, the state government was splurging hard earned public money on the political campaign,” he alleged.

The controversy was fuelled further as a video surfaced by evening in which another Collector Srinivas Sharma was seen holding the saffron flag in hand during Ekatm Yatra in Damoh district while others in the procession chanted Jai Sri Ram slogans.

“Politicisation of state machinery is lethal for fair governance. These IAS officers work as Returning Officers in elections. EC will have to post them out,” Tankha reacted on Twitter.

The state government has launched ‘Ekatm Yatra’ aiming to collect metal pieces to install 108-feet tall statue of Adi Shankaracharya at Omkareshwar in Khandwa district in the state. It covers a distance of 2,175 kms while crossing 12 districts.