The week-long ‘FIR campaign’ launched by the State Congress against Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik ended on Wednesday with a mammoth public meeting of the party held at Salepur, 25 km from here, in which AICC general secretary and Odisha-in-charge of the party BK Hariprasad while addressing the gathering.
Accusing Naveen Patnaik Government of diverting 10 kg of rice every month from each BPl family, the party had been filing FIRs against the State Chief Minister and the Food and Civil Supplies Minister.
According to party sources, nearly 50,000 FIRs have been filed in at least 300 police stations of the State accusing the Government and urging the police to take appropriate legal actions against the Chief Minister and his Cabinet colleague.
Addressing the gathering, PCC president Jayadev Jena hinted that in the event of police not taking any action on the FIRs, the party would move the judiciary filing complaint cases against the police for their inaction.
He also said the party is contemplating to move consumer redressal forums over the cut in the PDS rice to BPl families.
Earlier, a massive gathering welcomed Hariprasad and other party functionaries of the State at Jagatpur and he was taken to Salepur in a motorcycle procession. The local leaders by that time had filed over a hundred FIRs in the local police station accompanied by the BPl card holders.
Besides, Hariprasad and Jena, leader of Opposition in the Assembly Bhupinder Singh, party Chief Whip Prasad Harichandan, MPs Ramachandra Khuntia and Bhakta Charan Das and several other senior party leaders addressed the Gathering, criticising the Naveen Patnaik Government.