Odisha Official’s Assault Shows Use of Political Power to Control Bureaucracy
Implications of Political Supporters Thrashing a Senior Government Official in His Office
July 4, 2025
A senior official in Odisha was assaulted inside his office by political supporters of a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, Jagannath Pradhan, who was arrested days later, after government officers across the state went on mass leave in protest. The incident reveals that political actors in the state believe the bureaucracy exists to obey them, and that violence is a legitimate way to enforce that obedience – which has consequences also for ordinary citizens who depend on a fair, functioning state.
Pradhan was arrested on July 3, three days after a group of men entered the office of Additional Commissioner Ratnakar Sahoo of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation and dragged him out, slapped and punched him in front of others, demanding that he apologise to Pradhan, as reported by The Indian Express. Five others had been arrested earlier.
The incident was caught on video and shared widely on social media, and the Odisha Administrative Service Association responded with a mass leave protest.
The attackers were allegedly supporters of Pradhan, who later said Sahoo had misbehaved with a woman sanitation worker who had joined political rallies of the state’s Chief Minister and the Prime Minister, and that the officer had spoken rudely to him as well, according to the Express.
Sanitation workers employed directly by municipal corporations as regular staff are considered government employees and are not allowed to actively participate in political rallies under service conduct rules. However, if they are contract workers or hired through third-party agencies, these restrictions may not apply, and they can attend rallies in a personal capacity unless their contract says otherwise. We do not know the employment status of the sanitation worker in question here.
In a constitutional democracy, the bureaucracy is meant to function independently of political pressure. It is not elected because it is supposed to serve all citizens equally, regardless of who holds office. This bureaucratic autonomy allows government officers to act according to law and procedure, not party lines or personal loyalties.
The incident suggests that the ruling party’s supporters believe they have the right to punish a senior official for not obeying their leader. The belief that the officer owed an apology, and could be forced to give it, shows a distortion of how power is meant to work. The civil servant is not subordinate to a political figure in any personal sense. Their accountability is to the rules, the law and the people.
The idea that government workers must be obedient to politicians has a name in political theory: patronage politics. It’s a system where state offices are treated as extensions of political networks. Loyalty is rewarded, defiance is punished. When political leaders believe they own the bureaucracy, they try to mould it in their image. Asa result, a resident approaching a government office no longer expects fair treatment. What matters instead is who they know.
In a lawful state, only public institutions like the police are authorised to use force, and even then within strict limits. When political supporters beat up a public servant and later protest the arrest of their leader, they are signalling that force can be used to get things done, and that consequences can be avoided through pressure. This breaks the legal order. Political scientist Max Weber called the state’s monopoly over legitimate violence the defining trait of the modern state. Without it, any group that can assemble a crowd can behave like a government.
Residents of Odisha should be concerned. If public officers are treated like party workers, they stop being able to serve the public without fear. People who go to a government office expect decisions to be made on merit or need — not on whether a politician is watching. If officers believe they can be dragged out and slapped for upsetting the wrong person, they will begin to calculate their actions not based on law but on risk. The entire state becomes slower, more partial and more fragile.
The people of Odisha — or any other state — rely on public servants to help them navigate everyday life, from ration cards to sanitation, housing to disaster relief. When those servants are treated as errand boys for political actors, the citizen is left at the mercy of the most powerful hand in the room.
Unfortunately, this is neither a new development nor one limited to a particular state or political party. In Uttar Pradesh, several revenue and police officers have reported threats from local politicians. In West Bengal, a municipal officer was attacked for enforcing building rules. In Andhra Pradesh, transfers of officers have often followed confrontations with political leaders.
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