Upset over the removal and seizure of party posters welcoming their national president Amit Shah from various parts of the city by the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, irate BJP activists on Thursday staged a road blockade by burning tyres here at Power House Square just a day before Shah’s visit here.
The saffron party’s activists detained two BMC employees and damaged the civic body’s vehicles. The protesters alleged that the authorities were trying to sabotage Amit Shah’s rally at the behest of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
A large number of BJP activists without giving any prior notice staged the road blockade and allegedly assaulted passersby who tried to cross the busy junction which leads to the State Secretariat, the Heads of the Department building, the Circuit House and other major Government establishments.
The protestors even did not hesitate to attack a senior journalist of a national news agency who tried to persuade them to give him way to go to the Secretariat. The errant activists even pasted party posters in front glasses of city buses causing inconvenience to the drivers.
On the contrary, BMC Commissioner Dr Krishan Kumar said that since a new hoarding regulation has come into effect from November 1, no hoardings, including political ones, would be allowed without the permission of the BMC.
“Since November 1, we have been removing illegal hoardings across the city. Yesterday, we also removed the hoardings of other political parties, Hence, there is no politics in it,” said Kumar.
BJP State president Basant Panda said, “The ruling BJD is scared of Prime Minister Modi and Amit Shah. Our posters and hoardings are being pulled down intentionally by the BMC while the BJD hoardings are still intact.”
Meanwhile, preparations were in final stage for Amit Shah’s ‘Janjagran Mahasamavesh’ on Friday. Shah is scheduled to arrive at the Baramunda ground at 12 noon and address the gathering. He is scheduled to spend nearly two hours at the Mahasamavesh.
NSG commandos along with the State police have fine-tuned the security arrangements for Shah’s visit.