Shortly ahead of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s visit to Puri to participate in the last Rath Yatra coordination committee meeting on Tuesday, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) staged demonstrations and waved black flags to protest his visit to the pilgrim city.
Scores of saffron party activists staged a demonstration at Jhadeswar Square in the city to protest against the attack on Union Textiles Minister Santosh Kumar Gangwar’s cavalcade in Bargarh while he was on his way to participate in the BJP’s Vikash Utsav.
The protesters shouted slogans BJD Ra Julam Chaliba Nahi, Naveen Patnaik Hai Hai. They entered into a scuffle with security personnel. Thirty-five BJP activists, including Krushna Chandra Jagdeb and Puri unit president Pravanjan Mahapatra, were taken into preventive custody.
Seven BJP workers had also been detained here on Monday.
In view of the Chief Minister’s visit, 22 platoons of police personnel were deployed in the city to rule out any awkward situation. Besides, police forces were also deployed along the National Highway. The Chief Minister’s cavalcade reached the meeting venue at the Gopabandhu Ayurvedic College amid high security.
The Chief Minister reviewed the preparations for the annual Rath Yatra to be held on July 6. Health, sanitation, traffic management, security and communication facilities were the prime areas of discussion.
Interestingly, the meeting ended in about half a hour, obviously due to security reasons arising out of the BJP agitation. Ministers and Secretaries of the concerned departments, district administration officials and servitors of the Jagannath Temple also attended the meeting.
Ruling BJD spokesperson Pratap Keshari Deb said, “The Chief Minister’s Puri visit was not for a party meeting. It was a Rath Yatra review meeting. It is unfair to compare the Bargarh incident with any other thing. The BJP’s protest is sheer desperation (on its part).”