Bhubaneswar: The state Congress Saturday called for a six-hour ‘chakka bandh’ in the twin city June 4 over hike in fuel prices while also announcing its intention of calling a statewide bandh on the Mahanadi issue shortly.
Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Niranjan Patnaik told reporters at Congress Bhawan here that the ‘chakka bandh’ would be in place from 6 am to 12 pm in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar.
“The Congress party requests citizens of both the cities to refrain from driving their vehicles during these hours as a mark of protest,” Patnaik said.
On the Mahanadi issue, Patnaik said that the party would not tolerate the “tyranny” of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government at the Centre and will continue its fight to protect the state’s interest.
“The date of statewide bandh on Mahanadi water crisis will be decided soon after holding talks with party’s senior leaders,” Patnaik said.
Patnaik slammed both the Centre and the state ruling dispensation, Biju Janata Dal (BJD), on the Mahanadi issue.
Taking a jibe at the BJP governments at the Centre and Chhattisgarh, Patnaik said, “The Raman Singh government in Chhattisgarh has traded Mahanadi water to 26 private companies for the next 25 years, minting huge money for the saffron party.”
Patnaik accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of supporting the Chhattisgarh government in its unilateral construction of barrages and dams on the Mahanadi river upstream.
He alleged that during Modi’s recent visit to the state, he failed to give any assurance of protecting the interests of the people of the state in the matter.
He added that the BJD government was equally responsible for the crisis. Calling the BJD government protest as a “drama” to gain traction ahead of polls, he said, “The state government had remained silent on Mahanadi till 2015 and two years ago it had deliberately skipped the first all-party meeting on this issue”.
The BJD government is only shedding crocodile tears,” he added.
While the BJD welcomed Congress’s ‘chakka bandh’ on fuel price hike, it lambasted the party asking it to explain how all the Mahanadi projects in Chhattisgarh had got the nod during the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime. BJD MP and spokesman Pratap Deb said, “Why had the Congress remained mum on Mahanadi till last year?”
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