BHUBANESWAR: For Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, the distance from Naveen Nivas to State Secretariat took close to two hours to cover on Friday.
With Congress workers guarding the AG Square with dogged determination, the Commissionerate Police adopted a wait-and-watch strategy to ensure safe passage for the CM.
Naveen, who generally reaches the Secretariat by 10.30 am, however, had to wait as the agitators did not relent. The police arrested them in phases and waited for the route to clear up. After the group, led by OPCC chief Prasad Harichandan, was held, the CM’s convoy was awaited but soon Mahila Congress activists showed up near Jayadev Bhawan.
Around 12.15 pm, the signals were imminent and the route was cleared. By the time Naveen made his way into the Secretariat, the Congress had achieved its goal by pushing his office schedule.
With vehicular traffic paralysed, some of the ministers took pillion rides on bikes of their PSOs to the Secretariat. Agriculture Minister Pradip Maharathy, Higher Education Minister Pradeep Panigrahy, ETE&T Minister Sanjay Dasburma as well as Health Minister Atanu Sabyasachi took the motorbike route to office.
Meanwhile, a member of Parliament, who flew into the City during the bandh, hopped into a police vehicle from the airport and reached home.