BHUBANESWAR: At sharp 5.30 pm on Saturday, Odisha came to a standstill and the air reverberated with the melodious tune of ‘Bande Utkal Janani’ as people across the State led by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik sang the State song in unison to express their gratitude to the frontline workers spearheading the fight against coronavirus. Odias around the world and leaders cutting across party lines, both in and outside the State, too joined the chorus to honour the doctors, nurses, paramedics, policemen, sarpanchs, PRI representatives, SHG members, social workers and sanitation workers, etc., who are directly involved in the battle on ground.
While Governor Ganeshi Lal and staff joined the mass singing at the Raj Bhavan, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik recited the song from his residence Naveen Nivas along with 5Ts Secretary VK Pandian. MLAs led by Speaker Surya Narayan Patro joined the programme from the Assembly. The programme assumed a special flavour with Melody Queen Asha Bhosle lending her voice to the composition by Shankar Mahadevan and dedicating it to the frontline Covid warriors.
Union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Pratap Chandra Sarangi, MPs and leaders of different political parties, BJP national vice-president Baijayant Panda, Congress leaders led by president of the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee Niranjan Patnaik, BJP leaders led by State president Sameer Mohanty, Government employees in the Lok Seva Bhavan led by Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy, policemen at the Police Seva Bhavan in Bhubaneswar and State Police Headquarters in Cut tack stood up and sang in unison.
The people, young and old, commoners and elite, all took positions in their houses, complexes and workplaces, on the street and institutions and sang the song. Traffic across the State came to a standstill at 5.30 pm, with people stopping and joining the chorus in their own ways. Students, sportspersons and people from other fields participated to encourage the doctors, health workers and policemen who have been relentlessly fighting from the front to contain the spread of coronavirus in the State.
Non-resident Odias staying in different parts of the country and world joined the singing. Odia organisations in countries like US, Dubai, Singapore, South Korea, Japan, China participated . The social media was flooded with videos and photographs of people singing ‘Bande Utkal Janani’. Overwhelmed by the tremendous response to his call, the Chief Minister expressed his gratitude to the Odia people world over.
State reverberated with ‘Bande Utkal Janani’
“Participation of people from all ages, children as well as elderly persons will strengthen our resolve to fight the coronavirus pandemic,” he said, and thanked all political parties for extending their support to mass singing of ‘Bande Utkal Janani’. Responding to his call, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan, who sang the song in Delhi, took to twitter saying, “Joined my Odia brothers and sisters from across the world to convey my gratitude & salute the selfless service of our corona warriors. No words are enough to thank them.
The Odia community is grateful and stands in solidarity with these brave hearts working hard to combat Covid-19. Complimenting the Chief Minister, he said, “ Odisha has emerged as an underrated leader in Covid-19 management. I compliment CM Shri Naveen Patnaik, our corona warriors and the people of Odisha for their efforts in strengthening India’s fight against corona. Together, we will overcome. May Lord Jagannath bless us all.”