Bhubaneswar. (Reporterspen), March 27: Tensions escalated in Bhubaneswar on Thursday as police resorted to lathi-charge, tear gas shells, and water cannons to disperse Congress workers attempting to march towards the Odisha Assembly.
The protest, organized as part of the party’s ‘Vidhan Sabha gherao’ campaign, turned aggressive when demonstrators broke barricades, pelted stones, and threw chairs on Mahatma Gandhi Marg. In the chaos, two police personnel sustained injuries, and protesters attempted to set a police van on fire.
Earlier, a large rally led by senior Congress leaders commenced from Ram Mandir and culminated at Lower PMG, causing traffic disruptions between Ram Mandir Square and Master Canteen Square.
Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) President Bhakta Charan Das urged workers to remain peaceful, assuring that the protest aimed at highlighting women’s safety concerns. However, he alleged that party members were being obstructed from reaching the capital, warning that such detentions could incite unrest across districts.
The Congress has been demanding the formation of a committee to investigate crimes against women since the BJP-led government assumed office. Congress MLAs had previously protested in the Assembly by beating gongs, leading to their suspension for a week. The situation intensified when 12 Congress legislators were forcibly removed from the House following clashes with security personnel on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning.
Former CLP leader Narasingha Mishra criticized the government, stating that suspending 14 Congress MLAs ahead of the gherao only aggravated tensions.
In anticipation of the protest, authorities deployed 80 platoons of police, including 10 women-led units, with barbed wire barricades erected to prevent demonstrators from storming the Assembly. Odisha Swift Action Force was also kept on standby to control any major disruptions.
