In a significant move highlighting administrative friction, five Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) legislators from Vadodara have formally written to Gujarat Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel, expressing strong dissatisfaction with the functioning of senior city and district officials. The MLAs allege a systemic failure where officials disregard both the common citizen and their elected representatives.
MLAs Detail Grievances in Formal Letter
The letter, signed by Dabhoi MLA Shailesh Mehta (Sotta), Waghodiya MLA Dharmendrasinh Waghela, Savli MLA Ketan Inamdar, Karjan MLA Akshay Patel, and Padra MLA Chaitanyasinh Zala, outlines a pattern of unresponsiveness. The legislators stated that despite raising issues orally on multiple occasions, no corrective action was taken, forcing them to resort to a written appeal to the Chief Minister.
The core request in the letter is for the CM to issue clear instructions to the bureaucracy. The MLAs want officials to prioritize public works suggested by elected representatives and take decisions that align with the public interest. They painted a grim picture of the current state of affairs, describing the process of getting work done in government offices as a "war-like task" for ordinary people.
Allegations of High-Handedness and Disconnect
The communication levelled serious allegations against the administrative machinery. It accused both senior and junior officials of demonstrating "high-handedness" and operating with a sense of impunity. A particularly sharp criticism was directed at senior officials for allegedly isolating themselves from ground realities.
"Senior officials have made good offices to their taste from where they attended video conferences and gave rosy pictures to the govt without understanding ground realities, people's issues and geography," the letter stated. It further claimed that these officials act as if they are above the government and the elected representatives, considering themselves to be the government.
The MLAs also reported an alarming trend where citizens seeking help from their MLAs are subsequently questioned by officials about their approach, creating an atmosphere of intimidation for the public.
MLAs Fear Vadodara Not an Isolated Case
Speaking about the letter, one of the heavyweight MLAs who signed it indicated that the problem might be widespread. The MLA suggested that Vadodara may not be an exception, and that in many places, total control of the system rests with officials who do not heed elected representatives. The letter's scope includes officials from Vadodara city as well, since parts of the urban area fall within the constituencies of rural Vadodara districts.
After submitting the letter at the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) in Gandhinagar, Savli MLA Ketan Inamdar spoke to reporters. He explained that escalating the matter to the CM was a last resort after repeated failures at the local level during coordination meetings.
"Officials don't even listen to MLAs. They make arbitrary decisions. Common people are running from pillar to post to get their work done. Most of the time, these officials are busy in meetings instead of solving the issues faced by the people. The situation is getting worse with every passing day," Inamdar stated emphatically.
This formal complaint by ruling party MLAs against their own state's administration underscores a deep-seated concern about bureaucratic accountability and its interface with democratic representation. The ball is now in Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel's court to address these grievances and potentially recalibrate the working relationship between elected officials and the permanent executive in Gujarat's key region of Vadodara.
