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Opposition parties take to streets against price rise

— Photo: Ashoke Chakrabarty

On the offensive: Opposition parties holding demonstration in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday.

BHUBANESWAR: Six opposition parties barring Congress here on Wednesday took to the streets expressing anguish over deteriorating law and order situation and steep price rise of essential commodities.

Holding placards hundreds of party activists belonging to Communist Party of India, Communist Party of India (Marxist), Nationalist Congress Party, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, Rastriya Janata Dal and Samajwadi Party held a joint demonstration here.

They courted arrest accusing that the Naveen Patnaik-led Government had not shown any resolve to control law and order where as its passive approach had encouraged criminals and gangsters to make the State as their safe haven.

The demonstration by six parties assumed significance as it added to the mounting pressure on the Naveen Patnaik Government to solve the Biranchi Das murder case as well as come out clean on allegation of police-criminal nexus.

They demanded that tainted IAS officer Priyabrata Patnaik, who had admitted having met the gangster Raja Acharya, prime suspect in the case, be arrested. Similarly, they also demanded arrest of Ved Prakash Agarwal, vice-chairman of State Planning Board.

Leaders accused that Mr. Agarwal was giving shelter to criminals in his house.

On issue of price rise, they said the State Government had not taken any visible step to arrest spiralling inflation rate. As party workers moved towards State Assembly, police resorted to symbolic arrest.

CPI (M) general secretary Dibakar Nayak and leader Sura Jena, CPI (M) State Secretary Janardan Pati and veteran leader Shivaji Patnaik, NCP leader Amar Prasad Satpathy, SP’s State president Kailash Mishra and RJD leader Baishnab Parida led the six-party demonstration here.

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