Bhubaneswar: The plans of the Congress to have a six-hour bandh Friday was dashed by the Orissa High Court which said that the party can organise protests but should not inconvenience or disrupt public life. Earlier the Congress had called for a state-wide bandh over the increase in crime against women and the murder of school teacher Mamita Meher. The Congress has agreed to observe ‘hartal’ Friday as per the order of the Orissa High Court.
The Congress had given a call for Odisha bandh from 6.00am to 12.00 noon. However, Naresh Kumar Mishra, a Cuttack-based businessman, filed a petition before the high court Thursday morning challenging the bandh. Hearing the petition on an urgent basis, the Orissa HC directed Thursday, the Congress not to implement the bandh forcefully.
“In particular there shall be no attempt to forcibly close or prevent any lawful activity or any shop or establishment or prevent the plying of buses, trains and all forms of public or private transport,” the court said in its order.
The Congress said that it will observe a peaceful ‘hartal’ as per the court’s directive. “Congress will observe a six-hour peaceful hartal Friday as per the high court order. Party members will not resort to any kind of violent activities or disruption to public life,” spokesperson Satya Prakash Nayak said Thursday.
President of the Odisha unit of the Congress, Niranjan Patnaik meanwhile appealed to the public to support the ‘hartal’ in the interest of Odisha.
To counter the Congress move, the State government has asked all employees in the state capital to reach office by 9.30am Friday. Special Secretary (Home), Santosh Bala has advised secretaries of all departments to ask staff to reach their respective offices by 9.30am to facilitate their smooth entry.
Meanwhile the BJP held an intellectuals’ meeting and youth members hit the street in Bargarh and attempted to gherao the SP’s office. Many BJP leaders, including the president of Odisha BJP Yuva Morcha, Irasish Acharya, were detained by the police after a scuffle during protest march.
“Dibya Shankar Mishra is directly involved in the murder of Mamita Meher. We therefore, demand his resignation as soon as possible. The police cannot suppress us through arrest,” Acharya asserted.
Meanwhile the BJD said that Congress has become the B-team for the BJP and is dancing to the tunes of the saffron party. “The Odisha Congress has become the B-team of the BJP. Due to its weak financial position, it appears that the Congress is dependent on sponsorship from the BJP for its activities,” said BJD spokesperson Sasmit Patra.
PNN