Taking a bizarre measure, police on Sunday forced rural women and girls to remove black stoles from their persons before allowing them entry to a meeting site in Sundargarh district where Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik addressed the public.
Visitors were stunned at the police act as rural women usually cover their shoulders and heads with stoles, mostly black, and scarf to protect themselves from hot sun or chilly weather.
During his visit, Patnaik inaugurated a host of projects and laid foundation-stones for many proposed ones. He addressed four public meetings at different places in the district.
Hundreds of BJP and Congress activists staged protests at different locations and were detained by police.
“My Government is committed for overall development of the State. Development of different sections of society like tibals, women, farmers and youth masses has gone a long way during the last 17 years,” the CM said at the meetings.
He addressed meetings at Mangaspur under Tangerpalli block, Bimlagarh and Rourkela. At Rourkela, he inaugurated a life-size statue of Biju Patnaik at the Biju Pattnaik University of Technology campus. Besides, he also inaugurated a ladies’ hostel and laid foundation-stone of a seven-storied building for the BPUT.