Armed with the support of almost all Opposition political parties, including the Congress and the BJP, the Rajya Bidyut Upobhakta Mahasangha on Sunday appealed to 56 lakh power consumers to make the 12-hour hartal call given by it on Tuesday a success. Mahasangha president Panchanan Kanungo told reporters here that the aim of the hartal is to put pressure on the Government to withdraw the recent power tariff hike decision and to rebuild the power sector in the State.
“Almost all political parties, BJP, Congress, CPI(M), CPI, CPI(Ml), SP, RJD, AAP, Aama Odisha and CPIMl (Red Star) and several civil society organisations have extended their support for the hartal. Hence, we urge all electricity consumers to join the stir to protest the injustice,” said Kanungo.
He said the hartal would be total covering train and bus services, all commercial, Government and nongovernment establishments. The timing of bandh would be from 6 am to 6 pm. No vehicles would be allowed to run on the roads during the 12-hour bandh except emergency services like ambulance, water supply and fire services. Mahasangha convenor Rabi Das, Congress leader Sibananda Ray and leaders of other political parties and trade unions attended the Press conference.
