Puri: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s carcade was pelted with eggs near Hospital Chhak in Odisha’s Puri while he was returning to Bhubaneswar after attending the foundation stone laying ceremony for Jagannath Temple Parikrama Project on Wednesday.
Three youths also waved black flags at him by breaking the robust security cordon. “Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) will agitate till the ‘tainted’ minister Dibya Shankar Mishra is not expelled or no action is taken against him,” said BJYM, Odisha president, Irasis Acharya.
Protesting against the CM’s Puri tour, BJP workers hurled eggs at minister Bikram Keshari Arukh’s vehicle near Maltipatapur and showed black flags at Balagandi square earlier in the day.
In recent days, there has been a spate of egg attacks against ministers in the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD government in Odisha over the alleged complicity of Minister of State for Home Dibya Shankar Mishra in the murder of Mamita Meher.
However, the most memorable egg protest against Naveen took place in 2015 in the heart of Bhubaneswar, when Youth Congress activists shelled the CM’s cavalcade with eggs for not learning Odia language during his 14-year tenure and failing to provide employment to the youth.
Also Read: Eggs: Not Boiled Or Scrambled, Odisha Protesters Like It Raw To Target Ministers
The incident occurred near Keshari Talkies in Bhubaneswar while the chief minister was on his way to attend the annual function of Utkal University students’ union. Police arrested at least 18 Congress activists for the act.
A year later, a youth hurled eggs at Naveen during a public programme at Mayurbhanj district. He has been identified as a member of the local Congress student wing in Suliapada who studies in the MPC Autonomous College in the district.
In 2016, police sensitised routes taken by politicians, particularly to interior regions, and restricted sale of eggs by roadside stalls.
In 2018, a woman, identified as the wife of a BJP worker, threw two eggs at the CM back to back while he was addressing a gathering at the inauguration of Talsari beach festival.
Murder charges were slapped in both Bhubaneswar and Balasore incidents.
Earlier in December 2013, activists of Navnirman Krushak Sangathan, an organisation fighting for the cause of farmers, had blocked Patnaik’s cavalcade near the secretariat protesting the apathy of the government towards the farming community.
