On Thursday, normal life came to a halt in numerous districts of Odisha as parties from the INDIA bloc organized protests and blocked roads during a 12-hour bandh. The demonstration was aimed at opposing a new mining law, alleged inaccuracies in school textbooks, and perceived irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Shops, businesses, petrol stations, and many educational institutions were closed in the morning hours, with public transport services, including buses and auto-rickshaws, largely suspended.
Protesters, waving party flags and banners, staged demonstrations and obstructed roads and national highways in various locations, including Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Bargarh, Bhadrak, Balasore, Rayagada, Kendrapara, Bolangir, Berhampur, and Sambalpur.
At major intersections, demonstrators burned tyres as a means to emphasize their call for the shutdown.
The disruption left many commuters stranded, with buses, trucks, taxis, and auto-rickshaws being halted at multiple spots, resulting in long waits at bus stops.
However, essential services such as hospitals, ambulances, fire services, medicine shops, and milk supply were exempt from the bandh, as confirmed by a Congress leader.
The shutdown commenced at 6 am and involved several parties from the INDIA bloc, including the Congress, CPI, CPI(M), CPI(ML) Liberation, Forward Bloc, NCP (Sharad Pawar), Samajwadi Party, RJD, and JMM.
These parties are demanding the repeal of the new mining law, the resignation of state minister Nityananda Gond for alleged errors in educational materials, and accountability for irregularities in the SIR process.
Senior Congress leader Suresh Routray expressed that the coalition seeks a complete rollback of the MMDR (Amendment) Act and requested the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over accusations of electoral malpractice, as well as of Nityananda Gond regarding the distribution of flawed textbooks.
To ensure public safety during the bandh, police have implemented security measures throughout the state, according to a senior police official.
Authorities have engaged in discussions with organizers and other parties involved to maintain peaceful demonstrations and ensure they remain within the boundaries of the law.
Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Police Commissioner S Dev Dutta Singh noted that talks were held with various stakeholders to guarantee that protesters exercise their rights constitutionally.
