A bandh from 7 am to 5 pm on Thursday called by the ruling BJD protesting against the Polavaram dam project in Andhra Pradesh affected normal life in Odisha’s the southern districts of Koraput, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur and Rayagada.
The streets were deserted and shops and other business houses remained closed. Senior leaders and a few Ministers led the stir in different districts. In Jeypore and Koraput, party workers held picketing at the entry points of the town and restricted the vehicles to move. Both private and Government bus services were interrupted. Shops, Government offices, banks, schools and colleges remained closed during the bandh except emergency service providing shops and offices. In Koraput, MP Jhinna Hikaka, observer Bijay Kumar Nayak, district BJD president Jayaram Pangi led, whereas in Jeypore BJD spokesperson Rabi Narayan Nanda and youth leader Dharmendra Adhikari were on the forefront.
On the other hand, Congress alleged that BJD’s bandh is not for the sake of people of Odisha but only to hide the lacuna of the Government. “BJD is just trying to divert the attention of the public from ration card scam and farmers’ suicide issue and trying to just revive its image,” said Koraput Congress MlA Krushna Sagaria.
In Nabarangpur, MlA Manohar Randhari led the strike by moving with party workers and requesting people to support the protest.
Meanwhile, the BJD also held protest against the Polavaram project in front of the Raj Bhavan in Bhubaneswar. Ministers and MlAs met Governor SC Jamir and handed over a memorandum to him for President Pranab Mukherjee.