In an unprecedented show of solidarity, thousands of Congress workers led by party Jharsuguda Town president Bharat Awasthi held a rally here on Friday in support of local MlA Naba Kisore Das, who has been suspended from the Assembly for a week for watching objectionable video in the House.
The party workers took out the rally from the Manmohan ME School Ground to the Bus Stand Chowk. They later burnt effigies of Chief Minister Naveen Pattnaik and BJD leader Pramila Mallick condemning the ruling party for conspiring to tarnish the image of the local MlA.
Maintaining that Das is being targeted for his efforts to expose mining scam and insistence to discuss farmers’ suicide in the State, the Congress activists challenged the BJD to undertake probe into the matter and include all MlAs under its purview.
Highlighting numerous instances of pop up of porn sites during opening of some websites including that of the Indian Railways, Awasthi said, “It is unfortunate that when the State Government is making tall claims about promoting IT in the State, it is unaware of the way internet and websites operate”. Awasthi said BJD is desperate to win Jharsuguda but such sinister design would not work as people know Naba Das well and his good works as an MlA.