Just a week after the visit of Union Minister Giriraj Singh to Sambalpur to speak on the merits of the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the non BJP parties and Congress took out a mega rally on Saturday to protest the CAA.
While the Congress was at the forefront, other parties including Bhim Army, CITU and many others were also seen in the rally to ventilate their displeasure against CAA narrating it to be anti national and against the very unity and integrity of the country.
Keeping Sundargarh incident in view, massive police forces were deployed all over the town including from Jilla School chowk to Laxmi talkies and Collectorate. Police, as it was seen, were prepared to meet any situation since there were intelligence reports of violence from the CAA supporters group.
District president of Congress cum former MLA Aswini Guru, CITU leader Maheswar Sandha, Bhim Army leader Md Yusuf took the lead role during the rally where members of all communities, including Muslims in large numbers were seen.
The participants shouted slogans against PM Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Saha as the main architect of CAA.
When the organisers reached the collectorate to hand over a memorandum addressed to the President of India, police stopped them at Laxmi talks chowk and Sub Collector Aniruddha Padhan, in absence of the Collector, received the memorandum.
“CAA is designed to disintegrate the nation and hence we in the memorandum have requested the President to scrap it. We the sensitive citizens of the country will never allow Modi-Saha duo to make the country a communal hub,” said Guru after handing over the memorandum.