Bhubaneswar: Hundreds of Congress workers led by Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Sarat Pattanayak staged protests near Raj Bhawan in Odisha Capital on Monday over alleged attempts by the Centre to hush up stock manipulation and financial fraud by Adani Group and spiralling prices.
Senior Congress leaders, including Suresh Rourtay, Jaydev Jena and Ganeswar Behera along with women youth leaders, tried to scale the barricades put up around Raj Bhawan, provoking police which lead to a scuffle. Routray was seen atop a barricade during the protest.
Agitating leaders and members also shouted slogans, alleging “patronage” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi behind the growth of the Adani Group and stock manipulation by the conglomerate as pointed out in the Hindenburg report. “We are protesting against the central government and the state government over scams and price rise. The Centre should form a joint parliamentary committee to look into the Adani scam,” Pattanayak said.
A delegation of the party will meet the Governor and submit a memorandum, seeking probe into fraud claims against Adani Group, he added.
The members of the grand old party also put LPG cylinders and cow dung on the road to protest against the spiralling price of domestic gas. Police later took the agitators, which also hurled eggs and tomatoes at them, into preventive custody, sources said.
