Several Congress workers were injured in Odisha’s Bhubaneswar on Thursday after their protest against the suspension of 14 party MLAs from the state assembly turned violent.
The legislators were suspended allegedly for demanding the formation of a House Committee to investigate crimes against women in the last eight months of the BJP rule.
As the protest escalated, police used water cannons and resorted to lathicharge to disperse the demonstrators. Clashes erupted between the Congress workers and security personnel, with protesters hurling plastic chairs at the police. Several protesters reportedly sustained injuries.
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Lashing out at the BJP-led state government, Ajay Kumar Lallu, in-charge of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee, said, “Congress workers are not afraid of police lathicharge or water cannons. The government’s failure on women’s safety has been exposed.”
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Taking a dig at the government over the heavy security deployment at the protest site, state Congress president Bhakta Charan Das remarked, “If the force deployed to stop our workers had been deployed for the people, crimes against women would have been reduced.”
The protest was organized outside the state assembly against what the Congress termed “undemocratic” suspension of its MLAs. The legislators were suspended for seven days for alleged “indiscipline”, “disrespecting the Chair,” and “violating rules”.
Reacting to the mass suspension of all its 14 legislators, the Odisha Congress questioned the government’s stance on women’s safety and accused it of turning a blind eye to the crime against women.
“All 14 elected Congress MLAs suspended… What was their crime? Demanding a House Committee to ensure the safety of our mothers and daughters in Odisha. That’s it. Women and children are being subjected to relentless exploitation and violence across Odisha, yet the misrule expert BJP government continues to turn a blind eye,” the party stated.
“When we demanded a committee in the Assembly to ensure justice and accountability, they chose to suspend all our MLAs. More than 64,000 women are missing in Odisha. Every day, women are being gang-raped. When did speaking about women’s safety become a crime in the state?” the Congress added.
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