Odisha's ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) Sunday said it willnot join the nation-wide strike called by opposition parties Sep 20 against thediesel price hike and foreign direct investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail.
Instead, the BJD - which has been opposing the centralgovernment's decisions - announced it would stage demonstrations across thestate Monday. "BJD will stage demonstrations in front of the offices ofdistrict collectors tomorrow," BJD leader Kalpataru Das said.
"We have decided not to join the protests because theNuakhai festival would be celebrated in the western part of the state Sep 20.The BJD does not want to create any inconvenience on that day," Das added.
Although the state's traders have said they will join theprotest, it was not clear if the state units of other non-Congress parties -including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would - join the protests or stayaway.
The harvest festival of Nuakhai is an annual festival thatspreads the message of goodwill and brotherhood.
The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance and the Leftparties have called the strike Sep 20 to protest the hike in diesel price, thesix-cylinder cap on subsidised cooking gas cylinders for each household andallowing FDI in multi-brand retail.