BHUBANESWAR: Political one-upmanship took over the suicide of the alleged gangrape victim of Kunduli as both Congress and BJP on Tuesday called for a dawn to dusk State-wide bandh on Wednesday to protest the State Government’s failure in providing justice to the minor girl.
Earlier, the BJP had given a call to observe bandh in undivided Koraput district comprising Malkangiri, Nabarangpur and Rayagada. However, as soon as Congress gave a dawn-to-dusk Odisha bandh call, the saffron party upgraded its four-district bandh to a State-wide hartal.
While the two parties competed with each other to get maximum political mileage out of the incident, BJP accused the Congress of helping the ruling BJD to divert the process of investigation.
“Had the girl been allowed to stay in the SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack where she was undergoing treatment, she would have been alive today. The Congress, at the behest of the BJD, forced the hospital administration to hand over the girl to her family,” State BJP general secretary Bhrugu Baxipatra said.
Dubbing the suicide as unfortunate, ruling BJD said the opposition political parties are trying to politicise the incident. “I request them not to derive any political mileage from this unfortunate incident as it sets a bad precedent,” BJD spokesperson Pratab Keshari Deb said.
On the other hand, seeking support of the public to make Odisha bandh a success, OPCC president Prasad Harichandan demanded resignation of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for the injustice meted out to the minor tribal girl by his Government.
This is not an isolated incident. The family members of Babina Behera of Pipli and Itishree Pradhan of Tikiri, both victims of sexual assault and murder, are still waiting for justice, he added.
BJP general secretary Prithiviraj Harichandan said emergency services will be excluded from the ambit of the hartal which will be observed in a peaceful manner.
Earlier in the day, BJP workers took out a rally from party office to Naveen Nivas and staged a demonstration near Sishu Bhawan Square as the rally was not allowed to proceed by the city police.
Scuffle ensued between the agitators and police when the BJP workers tried to break police cordon. Police resorted to lathi-charge when some BJP workers started pelting stones on security personnel. Several police and BJP workers were injured in the scuffle.
Meanwhile, activists of National Students’ Union of India (NSUI) and Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) also staged separate protests in front of Utkal University here over the incident.
While NSUI activists blocked the main road infront of the varsity for a few minutes, ABVP members tied black clothes on their faces.
Schools, colleges to remain closed
Bhubaneswar: Schools and colleges will remain closed on Wednesday in view of the dawn to dusk bandh call given by Congress and BJP, the State Government said. Examination, if any, will also be shifted to a suitable date. The Chief Minister’s Office said the decision to close educational institutions was taken to ensure safety of students.