A show-cause notice to a junior supplies officer for serving a ‘cold tea’ to Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan during his recent pit stop in Chhatarpur caused a huge row in Madhya Pradesh, leading the district collector to order the SDM, who had issued the notice, to cancel it.
District collector Sandeep G.R. in his order to the SDM also made it clear that the chief minister had not made any comment about the matter or protocol violation as mentioned in the show-cause notice by the SDM.
The clarification assumed importance as the show-cause notice went viral on social media and the opposition Congress took potshots at the chief minister. Other social media users also made sarcastic comments on the notice issued over such a trifling matter as ‘cold tea’. Some users also connected it with the silence of the chief minister over the issue of an eight-year-old boy having to wait with the dead body of his younger brother as their father failed to find a vehicle to take the body home in Morena district recently. A similar incident had triggered controversy in February 2021 when an officer at Sidhi was suspended after the chief minister found mosquitoes in his room and general unhygienic conditions in the government circuit house.
The show-cause notice over 'cold tea' was issued by Rajnagar SDM (sub-divisional magistrate) D.P. Dwivedi to junior civil supplies officer (food inspector) Rakesh Kanhua on July 11, following the transit stop of Chief Minister Chouhan along with BJP state president V.D. Sharma at Khajuraho airport on Monday.
The notice mentioned that Kanhua was made in-charge of “providing tea and refreshments according to the menu” for the chief minister during the transit visit. “Information was received that the quality of the tea served to the chief minister was not good and it was cold. This caused an undignified situation for the district administration and put question marks on following protocol. This situation emerged as you took your VVIP duty lightly. There was negligence that amounted to misconduct as it was contrary to protocol provisions,” the notice said, asking Kanhua to show-cause as to why disciplinary action should not be initiated against him.
Congress attacked the CM on the issue. The official handle of Madhya Pradesh Congress tweeted: “Negligence in welcoming Maharaja Shivraj – official gets a notice from SDM. Monarchy is passé, but some people cannot give up their ego. Being a farmer is pretense, there is an ailment of luxury.”
Spokesperson Narendra Saluja tweeted, “Mamaji, why so much hatred for ‘chay wala’ (tea seller). Who is being targeted in hatred for others?”
Soon, BJP spokespersons posted the copy of district collector’s order to the SDM to cancel the notice. MP BJP media cell chief Lokendra Parashar said in a tweet: “The SDM who issued the notice should understand that such actions will not be tolerated. The officials taking out personal grudges against employees should be warned. It is not possible that the simple-living chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan would complain about tea.”
Spokesman Hitesh Bajpai also posted the cancellation order and said: “The chief minister is a simple and unassuming person. Today the officials explained to me the meaning of saying ‘chay se garm ketli’ (kettle is hotter than tea).
