Bhubaneswar: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi landed in Bhubaneswar Friday and headed straight to Baramunda grounds to address a public rally. He is scheduled to speak at the ‘Save the Constitution’ mega gathering.
Security has been tightened across Odisha for Gandhi’s visit. In the capital, 53 platoons of police forces have been deployed, along with bomb squads and dog squads, to ensure safety.
The Congress ‘Save the Constitution’ rally is scheduled for Friday at Bhubaneswar’s Baramunda grounds. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal are also expected to attend the event alongside Gandhi.
Also Read: Rahul, Kharge to address Bhubaneswar rally July 11, review Odisha congress
Meanwhile, a drivers’ association, which has been holding a cease work demanding welfare measures for its members, announced that it would relax its protest in view of the Congress rally.
Drivers’ Mahasangha president Prashant Menduli said the association members will not stop any vehicle going to Bhubaneswar to participate in Rahul Gandhi’s rally.
Expressing concern over the ongoing strike by drivers of buses, trucks, taxis, autorickshaws and other commercial vehicles in the state, Bhakta Charan Das alleged, “The state government has hatched a political conspiracy so that the cease work continues. Due to their conspiracy, the people of the state are facing difficulties as transportation of essential commodities has been affected.”
Odisha’s Commerce and Transport Minister Bibhuti Bhusan Jena, in a social media post, said that there is no need for protest by drivers as discussions have already been held to address all the demands of the association.
“Supporting the Congress rally, scheduled for the 11th July, and suspending the protest for a day shows that politics has crept into the movement. Do not mislead innocent drivers in the name of protests. I urge the driver brothers to refrain from the protest,” Jena said on X.
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