Only time will say what will happen to the lawyers’ strike for a High Court Bench in western Odisha. But due to this strike, a ready reward that the residents of Sambalpur have got is the Government’s decision for elevating the 130-year-old Sambalpur Municipality to a Municipal Corporation.
The lawyers here are on strike since August 20 demanding a HC Bench in western Odisha. All the State Government offices have remained closed in Sambalpur town since then. A bandh called by the lawyers on September 19 totally paralysed normal life in the town.
By the time the lawyers began their strike, the State Government had already declared elections to the urban local bodies (UlBs). Had there been no strike, the election to the Sambalpur Municipality would have been completed by now. Candidates couldn’t file nominations due to the closure of the offices.
At the same time, political parties also unanimously took a decision to boycott UlB elections in support of the lawyers’ demand. The State Election Commission was forced to postpone lections to 25 UlBs in nine western Odisha districts.
For a long time, there was a demand by political parties and civil society bodies to covert the Sambalpur Municipality to a corporation. Even Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who visited Sambalpur in July this year, had announced that the matter was under his active consideration. But he did not declare the municipality as a corporation till the UlB polls were declared in August.
If election would have been held here, it would obviously have been for the municipality. But when the poll was postponed, the Government utilised the opportunity and took the decision in favour of a corporation, say observers. It is quite obvious that the lawyers’ strike prompted the Government to take this decision.