Bhubaneswar: The INDIA bloc on Tuesday announced an Odisha bandh on October 8 to demand the withdrawal of the MMDR Amendment Act, as leaders and workers of alliance partners staged a demonstration near Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi’s residence here.
Hundreds of workers and leaders of the Congress, CPI(M), CPI, CPI(ML) Liberation, Forward Bloc, NCP, Samajwadi Party and RJD participated in the protest.
The protesters had earlier planned to gherao the Odisha Assembly but changed their plan and demonstrated near the chief minister’s residence after the Monsoon Session of the Assembly was adjourned sine die a day earlier.
Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Bhakta Charan Das announced the bandh during the protest and appealed to people to participate in the statewide agitation.
Das said the ongoing protest against the MMDR Amendment Act would continue and that the bandh would be observed across Odisha following a protest programme in Kendujhar.
“This protest will continue. On October 8, following the protest in Kendujhar, an Odisha bandh will be observed. From this platform, I appeal to the people of Odisha. On behalf of the INDIA bloc, I appeal to the CPI, CPI(M), Samajwadi Party (SP) and other parties to extend their support to the bandh,” Das said.
He also appealed to parties associated with the INDIA bloc to support the bandh and urged people across the state to participate in the programme.
Das alleged that the BJP-led double-engine government had betrayed the people of Odisha.
Demanding withdrawal of the MMDR Amendment Act, the OPCC president said the Congress would continue its agitation against the legislation.
The bandh has been called as part of the Congress-led protest against the amendment, he said.
