The State units of the Samajwadi Party, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the Janata Dal (United), the Janata Dal (Secular) and the Samajwadi Janata Party (SJP) which are the members of the proposed Samajwadi Janata Dal at the national level, staged a dharna in front of the Raj Bhavan here protesting the Central Government’s “lack of seriousness” to bring back black money stashed in foreign banks.
later, the leaders also submitted a seven-point charter of demands to the Governor urging him to direct the State Government to protect religious rights of the minorities of Odisha as some fundamentalist forces have threatened communal peace during the coming Christmas and New Year celebrations.
The leaders also urged the Governor to direct the State Government to address grievances of farmers in the matter of distress sale of paddy and other crops. They also demanded a 27-per cent reservation for OBCs in education and jobs.
The dharna was convened by RJD State president Harish Mohapatra, convener of the proposed united forum and JD(U) State president Chitta Ranjan Mohanty and Samajwadi State president Rabi Behera. Among others, laxmipriya Mohanty of the JD(S) and former MlA Kishore Das attended the dharna.