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The Odisha Congress on Thursday staged a protest in the state's capital, Bhubaneswar, demanding the formation of a committee to investigate crimes against women in the last eight months of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state.
The state Congress organized a protest march to the Odisha Assembly in Bhubaneswar to meet their demands on Friday. On Odisha Congress' protest march to the state assembly today, State Congress President Bhakta Charan Das said that the party had organized a peaceful march to the assembly. Taking a dig at the state government, he said that if the force deployed to stop their workers had been deployed for the people, crimes against women would have been reduced. "... We have organized a peaceful march to the assembly. Yet, our people are being stopped in every district... They will sit down in protest wherever they are stopped... It is not the job of the police to act as a broker for the BJP government in the state," he said. "If this amount of force were deployed for the people, then crimes against women would have stopped... At least make an assembly committee to suggest ways to stop crimes against women... If our people are stopped from protesting like this, then the next time, we will not declare the date, time, and venue of our protest, and lakhs of people will surround the Bhubaneswar capital... We have spoken to the DCP, CP, and DGP, yet our people are being stopped," the Congress leader added. On March 26, Odisha Assembly Speaker Surama Padhy suspended 12 Congress MLAs from the House for seven days on charges of "indiscipline, disrespecting the Chair, and violating rules" after they protested in the House's well on the same issue. Earlier, Odisha Minister Prithviraj Harichandan lashed out at the opposition for the clashes outside the Odisha Vidhan Sabha and stated that this kind of hooliganism was not acceptable and unexpected. Speaking to ANI, Harichandan said, "The behaviour that they showed yesterday and today is not acceptable. The kind of hooliganism they are showing is not expected from them..." Further, he stated that they had appealed through the media for the opposition to join hands with them and implement the development process designed for the state. "We are appealing through the media for the opposition to join hands with us and let's implement the development process that is designed," he added. (ANI)
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