Odisha CM Mohan Charan Majhi slams INDIA bloc for harassing citizens

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister on Thursday criticised the parties for allegedly harassing and intimidating people during the bandh called over the SIR of electoral rolls, among other issues.

Taking to social media, Majhi said the right to protest was an essential part of democracy, but citizens should not be troubled or prevented from going about their daily lives. “In a democracy, the right to Opposition and protest certainly exists, but abusing ordinary citizens in the name of protest, intimidating them, and disrupting their normal way of life is utterly undemocratic,” he said.

Majhi said the Election Commission is an autonomous constitutional institution and described the SIR of electoral rolls as a neutral and routine process. He alleged that Congress and INDIA bloc leaders and workers had harassed and assaulted innocent people during the bandh for political gains.

“It is extremely shameful and reprehensible that Congress and INDIA bloc leaders and workers took to the streets and engaged in such deplorable behaviour towards innocent members of the public — harassing and assaulting them — solely to advance their own political interests,” he said. “People have every right to protest in a democracy, but bothering citizens, scaring them, and disrupting their daily routines is completely wrong. The EC is an independent body, and updating the voter list (SIR) is just a normal, fair process. Using it as an excuse, Congress and Opposition members took to the streets and harassed innocent people just for their own political gain”, he noted.

He described such conduct as “shameful” and said any genuine protest must respect the rights of citizens. Normal life was affected in several districts of the State on Thursday as supporters of INDIA bloc parties held demonstrations and blocked roads as part of a 12-hour bandh to protest against a new mining law, “errors” in school textbooks and the alleged irregularities in the SIR exercise. Business establishments, petrol pumps, shops and many educational institutes were closed, while public transport such as buses and autorickshaws remained off the road.

Odisha BJP spokesperson Anil Biswal said normal life remained largely unaffected across the state despite the bandh call.

“However, the people of Odisha will never forgive the manner in which goons of the Congress and Left parties created terror at some places and intimidated common people. Various videos circulating in the media show how Congress workers stopped and misbehaved with people who were going to hospitals and those who were going to drop their children at school,” Biswal alleged.