“My father had met with an accident and I was on my way to the hospital to meet him when some activists with Congress flags stopped me and started abusing me. When I tried to convince them about my predicament, they started to thrash me for not extending support to the bandh. I have lodged a complaint with the Madhupatna police station”—a victim
Cuttack\Bhubaneswar: The 6-hour chakka bandh called by the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) June 4 against rising fuel prices turned out to be a nightmare for many city people, especially daily commuters.
Congress workers resorted to blocking roads, burning tyres at important junctions and picketing in both Bhubaneswar and Cuttack between 6am and 12 noon.
Reportedly, an ITI student was manhandled by Congress activists near the Gopalpur Bridge in Cuttack for venturing out on his two-wheeler during the bandh.
“My father had met with an accident and I was on my way to the hospital to meet him when some activists with Congress flags stopped me and started abusing me. When I tried to convince them about my predicament, they started to thrash me for not extending support to the bandh. I have lodged a complaint with the Madhupatna police station,” said the victim.
In Bhubaneswar, Congress workers stopped vehicles at Vani Vihar and Rasulgarh Square and threatened people. Shouting slogans, they forced trucks and buses to stop on both sides of the highway for hours from early morning which resulted in traffic chaos.
“I have to reach the airport immediately or else I would miss my flight. I don’t know what to do. The auto-rickshaws and cabs are not willing to ply,” said a young girl Jhanu Samanta at Rasulgarh during the protest. She added that the political parties’ selfish motive affects the common man. “Such strikes make us helpless. What if someone needed to be taken to hospital? Should he wait for the strike to be over,” she asked.
Harsih Chandra Barik said, “Every day I take an auto or bus from Master Canteen to reach my office in Khandagiri. But today I had to face a lot of trouble as few autos or buses were available. One of the auto rickshaw drivers demanded Rs 1000 to take me to office which I denied.”
Some Congress leaders and workers resorted to picketing at several key points in the two cities. As a result, many cars, buses and trucks remained stranded at various junctions. The general public and office-goers had a harrowing time as they could not manage a commute.
Though the OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik had announced that the protest would be peaceful and the bandh voluntary, not a single vehicle was allowed to ply by his party workers. Buses, autos and bikes were reportedly forced to go off the road.
Gitanjali Panigrahi, a physically-challenged woman from Bhubaneswar, had to walk on her hands in the scorching heat as she had failed to get any auto or bus. She said that the political party through the strike didn’t do any help to the common people.
