Bhubaneswar : Ahead of Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, the Congress today showed its strength by organising a massive protest and attempted to gherao the State Secretariat.
Thousands of Congress workers and several leaders including AICC in-charge of Odisha, Ajoy Kumar, state Congress president Sarat Pattanayak and former presidents Jaydev Jena & Prasad Harichandan took out a march from Congress Bhawan towards Lok Seva Bhawan.
The Congress leaders and activists scuffled with the police force while marching towards the Secretariat.
When the Congress workers tried to march towards the Secretariat after breaking down the police barricade, the police forcefully took the party leaders and workers including its president in a van. Later, they were released.
Speaking to media persons, Ajoy Kumar said Odisha became a crime capital during the BJD Rule. The total crime rate including rape cases, loot and murder cases are high in the state.
“The BJD has formed a gang of politicians to loot the state. The BJD has sold the state to outsiders. BJD has gifted forest land and valuable land to BJP. Like PPP (private public partnership), Pandian-Pradhan Commission (PPC) is running the state,” he alleged.
The healthcare service is deplorable in Odisha while 60 percent gram panchayats don’t have internet connection. A huge number of teacher posts are lying vacant in the schools, Dr.Kumar said.
As the BJD government has failed to provide employment, 30 lakh people migrated to other states for livelihood, he added.
Shri Pattanayak said people of the state will dethrone BJD which is working in collusion with BJP to indulge in irregularities and ruin the state. Congress will intensify its fight against the two parties in order to save the state, he said.
Shri Pattanayak also targeted the BJD and BJP over unemployment, price hike, law & order problems and corruption.
“BJD and BJP are like brothers and are looting the mineral resources of the state. What the BJP is instructing, the BJD is doing it. The BJD has again given one RS seat to BJP to elect Ashwini Vaishnaw,” alleged the state Congress President.
Stating that voting for BJD is like voting for BJP, he said, “Congress is the only alternative and it is fighting for the people. I appeal to the people of Odisha to remove the 25 year BJD government from Odisha in the upcoming election.”
Senior Congress MLA Taraprasad Bahinipati said poor, dalits and tribals are exploited by the BJD government. The Odia youths are migrated to other states in search of jobs and they are also exploited. Maximum of youths migrated from chief minister’s home district Ganjam, he said.
“Congress will never tolerate it and we will fight till the logical end under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi,” Shri Bahinipati stated.
During Congress-led UPA tenure, the price of petrol & diesel was around Rs 50 per litre and the cooking gas was selling at a price of Rs 450 per cylinder. At that time, the women activists of BJD were hitting the street. But, now, they are completely silent even though the price was almost doubled, he added.
Another party legislator Mohammed Moquim said the ‘dictatorship’ of the BJD government will not be tolerated and Congress will intensify its agitation.
