Bhubaneswar: The issue of frequent unscheduled powercuts raised the political mercury in Odisha as Congress and BJP took to streets in Bhubaneswar as a mark of protest on Monday.
After Activists of the student wing of Odisha Congress staged a demonstration in front of the official residence of Energy Minister Pratap Keshari Deb in Bhubaneswar in the morning, the BJP activists took out a rally towards Chief Minister’s residence in the evening.
Hundreds of BJP workers, led by the party’s district president Babu Singh, Jagannath Pradhan and Dilip Mohanty marched towards Naveen Niwas. Raising slogan against Energy Minister Pratap Keshari Deb, they demanded his resignation for failing to ensure 24×7 electricity supply to the consumers.
“Even as the state government claims that Odisha is a power surplus state, it has failed to provide uninterrupted power supply to the people. The general people, particularly those living in slums and other areas, suffer the most in the prevailing heatwave. The chief minister is accountable for their suffering and must own up the responsibility,” said the BJP leaders.
However, the BJP workers were stopped midway at Sishu Bhawan square by the police. A minor scuffle ensued between the protesting BJP leaders and police. Several BJP workers were arrested from the spot.
Earlier in the day, a large number of student Congress activists and leaders gathered outside the official residence of the Energy Minister holding lanterns and hand fans to protest erratic power supply. The demonstrators also allegedly hurled tomatoes at the Minister’s residence, accusing him of having failed to discharge his duty.
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