The dawn-to-dusk State-wide hartal called on Tuesday by the Rajya Bidyut Upobhokta Mahasngha and supported by almost all major Opposition political parties and trade unions ended peacefully. The hartal was observed demanding a rollback of power tariff hike announced by the Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) and an audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of accounts of power distribution companies in the State.
All opposition parties, labour unions, and civil societies supported the shutdown and organised picketing, demonstrations and rallies in front of Government offices, particularly electricity offices affecting life in some parts of the State.
Bus services also remained off at some routes, affecting commuters. “The hike in power tariff is arbitrary. It should be withdrawn immediately in the interest of common man and farmers in the State,” said Mahasangha president Panchanan Kanungo. About 100 protesters, including Mahasangha president Panchanan Kanungo, CPM State secretary and Ali Kishore Patnaik were arrested during the picketing in Bhubaneswar, police said.
Opposition parties, including the Congress, the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Samajwadi Party, the Trinamool Congress, the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the Communist Party of India (Marxist-leninist), extended their support to the shutdown and organised protest rally in different parts in the capital city of Bhubaneswar.
While the Congress workers staged demonstration in front of the Assembly, BJP and CPM activists organsied a padayatra along the Sachibalaya Marg shouting anti-Government slogans and demanding rollback of power tariff hike.
Though the Government had informed the Assembly on Monday that it would file a review petition before the OERC seeking a rollback of the proposed power tariff hike for the agriculture sector, it had no impact on the protestors.