Kendrapara: Congress party’s call for a 6-hour bandh demanding sub-division status for Pattamundai block paralysed life Tuesday.
The Pattamundai Block Congress and Nagar Congress participated in the bandh which got an overwhelming support from locals as well as youth associations, traders and intellectuals.
Business establishments remained closed during the bandh. Vehicular movement on Cuttack-Chandabali road came to a grinding halt in Pattamundai as the bandh supporters led by Rajanagar MLA Ansuman Mohanty resorted to blockade and picketing at several places in Pattamundai town.
In a statement, Congress activists threatened to intensify the agitation if their demand is not conceded. “Sub-division demand for Pattamundai has been there since 1993, soon after Kendrapara became a new district.
Rajanagar MLA has placed the demand before a Standing Committee of Orissa Assembly at least thrice in the past, but the government is yet to take any step in this direction.
If the government fails to act immediately on the issue we would take the protest to the state capital and gherao residences of revenue minister as well the Chief Minister in the coming days,” the statement said.
