Led by former Nilgiri MLA and senior leader Pratap Sarangi, thousands of BJP workers gheraoed Sadar Block office of Puri on Friday protesting corruption and fraud of the BJD Government.
In a huge rally, the BJP members reached the block and staged protests against the Naveen Patnaik Government’s financial irregularities in the State, besides corruption in Sadar block office by Puri MLA and Revenue Minister Maheswar Mohanty.
In the part of block gherao programmes starting from October 27 in the whole State, the BJP members also staged protests in Brahmagiri and Pipili blocks on Friday against the mal-governance and corruption of the ruling BJD.
Looking at any untoward incidents in the rally, the police barricaded the block office. However, the rally was peaceful limiting to protests, addresses and sloganeering against the Naveen Patnaik and Maheswar Mohanty, to whom the BJP leaders charged as fraudsters.
Sarangi in his address criticized the CM’s inability to speak Odia after 20 years and condemned Minister Pradip Maharathy’s slangs against women. In a scratching attack, Sarangi said that chit fund operators in close association of CM Naveen Patnaik cheated the poor of the State thousands of crores of rupees. He alleged that the CM was involved in many other scams like coal, iron ore irrigation, ration card, paddy procurement, fertilizer, besides innumerable frauds and irregularities over past two decades. He called upon the people to topple the Government.
Besides, local BJP leaders slammed Puri MLA for massive corruption in the block office through a temporary BDO. They also alleged that the MLA is instrumental in grabbing all the funds of developmental schemes through a proxy Chairman.