Demanding that the State Government declare Titilagarh sub-division a district, opposition Congress member Surendra Singhbhoi sat on a dharna in the Well of the Assembly on Thursday.
Raising the issue during the Zero Hour, Singhbhoi said the demand for carving out a separate Titilagarh district out of the Balangir district was ignored during the reorganisation of the districts in the 1990s though the sub-division was fulfilling all the criteria of being made a district.
Singhbhoi created a flutter in the House with his attire of a white T-shirt with the demand of “Declare Titilagarh a separate district” printed on it.
He said various organisations in Titilagarh have been agitating since long demanding Titilagarh as a district, but the Government is not paying any heed to it.
He demanded that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik discuss the issue with the Titilagarh Action Committee, which is spearheading the agitation without further delay.
Singhbhoi was supported by his party colleague from Kantabanji Santosh Singh Saluja. Kantabanji falls within the area of the perceived district. They demanded to know that if Deogarh and Boudh having only one Assembly constituency each were declared as districts, why Titilagarh having over six lakh population and three Assembly constituencies, Kantabanji, Titilagarh and Patnagarh, has not yet been declared a district.
Saluja also urged the Chief Minister to consider declaring Kantabanji as a sub-division.