As a tribute to Mahatma Gandhi on his 150th birth anniversary on Wednesday, the State Congress took out a Padayatra in the State capital to preach his message of nonviolence.
Headed by Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Niranjan Patnaik and party Odisha in-charge Jitendra Singh, the Padayatra kicked off at the Indira Gandhi Park and culminated at the Congress Bhawan and was followed by a peace meeting.
Thousands of party MLAs, senior leaders as well as workers from across the State participated in the Padayatra that began with garlanding of Gandhi’s statue.
“At a time when religious intolerance is increasing in the country, the ruling BJP has taken the country 100 years back. Politics is now being done in the name of religion, caste and creed. Through this Padayatra, we aimed to spread Mahatma Gandhi’s message of nonviolence and secularism in the country,” said Singh.
Cuttack Barabati MLA Mohammed Moquim said, “The Congress, Gandhiji and nonviolence are synonyms to each other. The Congress has always believed in nonviolence and Gandhiji’s ideology. Irony is that the BJP, which follows Gandhi’s killer Godse’s ideology, is now praising the Mahatma for its political benefits.”
Niranjan Patnaik and Jitendra Singh later participated in another Padayatra at Nischintakoili in Cuttack district and had lunch in the house of a local Dalit.