Bizzare! Officer gets notice for serving cold tea to Chouhan
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has drawn flak after a government official was issued a show-cause notice for serving low-quality, cold tea to the CM during his transit visit to Khajuraho in the state's Chhatarpur district. The notice was issued by the Rajnagar Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) DP Dwivedi to junior supply office Rakesh Kanauha, invoking a breach of the protocol. Here's more.
What did the show-cause notice say?
According to the notice, Chouhan briefly stopped at Khajuraho airport on Monday while traveling to Rewa to campaign for a local body election. During his stay at the airport's VIP lounge, he and other guests were allegedly offered tea that was cold. The junior supply officer was given the charge to oversee the refreshment arrangements for the chief minister's planned visit to Khajuraho.
'Embarrassment for administration, breach of protocol'
"We were informed that the tea served to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan was not good and it was cold too," read the notice issued to Kanauha. "This has caused embarrassment to the district administration and also raised questions over the compliance of protocol," it said. "Therefore, tell us why no strict action should be taken against you for this misconduct," it added.
Notice goes viral, invites sharp reactions
As per Times Now, the SDM requested a response from the officer within three days, failing which he will face one-sided action. The opposition has reacted strongly to the show-cause notice, which has gone viral on social media. Following criticism, however, Chhatarpur Collector Sandeep GR rescinded the show-cause notice, claiming that the CM had made no remarks on this matter or any violated protocol.
How did opposition react?
The "cold tea" show-cause notice put Chouhan in hot soup as a massive outrage erupted on social media platforms over the issue. The Congress too lashed out at the chief minister calling it "high-handedness."
Similar incident involving CM happened last year
This is not the first such incident involving Chouhan. A similar incident took place last year as well. A sub-engineer in charge of a circuit house in Madhya Pradesh's Sidhi district was suspended after allegedly causing "inconvenience" to the chief minister. After Chouhan complained about the circuit house's inadequate upkeep, Divisional Commissioner Rajesh Kumar Jain suspended sub-engineer Babulal Gupta, the circuit house's caretaker.
