Terming the State Government’s decision of not granting permission to hold a public meeting at Berhampur on March 22 as a coward act, Odisha Jan Morcha president Pyarimohan Mohapatra on Sunday said the venue will be shifted to Hinjili.
Speaking to mediapersons here, Mohapatra said, “Our request to the Principal of the MKCG Medical College, Berhampur for granting permission to hold a public meeting in the college playground was turned down for no plausible reasons.”
He said scared by the success of the OJM rallies and meetings, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is playing dirty tricks to frustrate the Morcha. The Chief Minister has been misutilising the Government machinery to demoralise OJM.
“We have accepted the challenge and we are determined to fight against the corrupt BJD Government in a democratic manner,” the expelled BJD rebel said.
In his February 25 reply to the letter of OJM secretary general Jangeswar Babu, Principal of MKCG Medical College AK Dandapat said, “It is regretted to say that a decision has been taken in the presence of the students’ unions of this medical college not to spare the playground as well as the auditorium for any programme other than academic purpose.”
Since March and April are the peak months of examinations, any event in the ground may hamper the study atmosphere, he said.
Earlier, OJM had sought the permission of the Principal of the Khallikote Autonomous College for organising the rally in the college playground. The Principal proceeded on leave after getting the letter of requisition for the playground, Mohapatra said.
“We have no other option but to approach the court of law for relief,” the Rajya Sabha member said, adding every democratic organisation has the right to organise public meeting.
The Morcha will be forced to shift the venue to Hinjili, the Assembly constituency represented by the Chief Minister if it is not allowed to hold the proposed meeting in Berhampur as planned, Mohapatra said.
Describing the whirlwind tour of the Chief Minister to different parts of the State as unannounced election campaign, Mohapatra called for a scrutiny of the public money being utilised by the ruling BJD for political purpose. The public has every right to know the expenditure made by the Chief Minister from the State exchequer for his political purpose, he added.