CUTTACK: Normal life was paralysed across Salepur on Tuesday following the eight-hour bandh called by the BJD in protest against the exclusion of the town from the state government’s latest notified area council (NAC) list.
Led by local BJD MLA Prasant Behera, the bandh witnessed widespread participation of party workers and residents who blocked the Cuttack-Chandbali state highway at Kuanpal Chhak. Shops, markets, schools and colleges too, remained closed throughout the course of the strike as protesters staged road blockade at several places.
Behera said, “The people of Salepur have been demanding NAC status since the 1980s. Forty years later, their wish was granted by former chief minister Naveen Patnaik. Unfortunately, the current BJP government undid the progress by excluding Salepur from the new NAC list,” he added.
The BJP, however, termed the agitation as politically motivated. “The BJD was in power for 24 years. During this period, it only made announcements. But, the double-engine government is working hard to fulfil its promises. Only 12 NACs have been announced out of 21 in the first-phase. Salepur will be included in the next phase,” asserted state BJP Kisan Morcha secretary Satyabadi Chaini.