Bhubaneswar: Congress Friday attacked the BJP government in Odisha over alleged rising crimes against women.
Members of the party disrupted House proceedings and staged a dharna near the Mahatma Gandhi statue on the Assembly premises.
Speaking to reporters outside the House, Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Rama Chandra Kadam said the party’s main demand is to ensure safety of women and girls in the state.
“The state has recorded 1,600 crimes against women in just eight months of BJP rule. As many as 36,420 women and girls have been reported missing from Odisha during 2000 to 2024. Similarly, 8,403 children are also missing from the state,” he claimed.
“Despite such a large number of women and children are missing, the BJP government is sitting idle,” the Congress leader alleged.
“Law and order has completely collapsed in the state. Our party has decided to fight both in the assembly and outside for the safety of women,” Kadam added.
Senior Congress MLA Taraprasad Bahinipati demanded that the government bring a special law to ensure the safety and security of women and girls.
Addressing a press conference here at Congress Bhawan, party leader Navajyoti Patnaik said, “Fifty per cent of Odisha’s population is women. However, the atrocities against them are rising day by day.”
“People had an expectation that the situation would change. But, it became even worse during the past eight months of the BJP government,” he alleged.
Every day, at least one case involving crime against women is being reported in each police station of the state, Patnaik claimed and added that the party has decided to hold a state-wide protest March 10 to warn the government and create awareness among people.
Reacting to the issue, BJP MLA Babu Singh said, “Before pointing fingers at others, the Congress should look into its own history when it was in power in the state.”
“The new BJP government emphasises women’s safety and security,” he said, adding, “The chief minister personally monitors the law and order situation. Whenever an incident happens, immediate action is being taken against the accused.”
PTI
