Congress workers continue to protest outside the office against the suspension of 2 MLAs
Bhubaneswar: In protest over the suspension of 12 party MLAs from the Legislative Assembly, Odisha Congress workers resumed their sit-in demonstration outside the party’s headquarters on Wednesday. The party leaders claim they were assaulted during their expulsion from the Assembly’s grounds.
On March 25, the suspended Congress MLAs stayed overnight in the Odisha Assembly, calling for the establishment of a House Committee to investigate the alleged abuses against women. The sit-in demonstration outside the state Congress office continued after authorities had ejected the demonstrators from the assembly grounds.
Congress MLA Taraprasad Bahinipati said that while being escorted from the property, he was assaulted by authorities.
“A house committee ought to be established. The truth will be out; thus, they are scared to create it. They struck me and other people while I was there. This is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. We have been suspended for seven days, and I have not seen the cops entering the home and attacking us. At the protest location, Bahinipati informed ANI that 12 MLAs had been suspended yesterday.
Sagar Charan Das, a party MLA, said last night that they were peacefully demonstrating and bringing up the topic of women’s safety. They are the representatives of the people, he said, and the problem is serious. Das further claimed that the police had beaten two MLAs and threatened to carry on the demonstration.
One of the suspended MLAs and the head of the Odisha Congress parliamentary party, Ramchandra Kadam, said that the administration, which is run by the Bharatiya Janata Party, is unwilling to consider calls to look into the hundreds of reported rapes of women in the state.
“The administration is not paying attention to our demands to establish a House Committee for the protection of our mothers, daughters, and other women. Fourteen days have passed. We are calling for a house committee to investigate the many rapes and attacks of juveniles that occur in Odisha on a daily basis since they are so disheartening. Mothers and students have been assaulted between 1700 and 1800 times in the last nine months, and the number is only rising,” Kadam told the media report.
Kadam expressed grave worries over the growing number of crimes against women earlier on March 25.
He underlined that Congress is aggressively drawing attention to problems impacting women, but he also underscored that the administration has the authority to choose how the House will operate.
Twelve of the fourteen Congress MLAs were suspended for seven days by Odisha Speaker Surama Padhy for “indiscipline, disrespecting the chair, and violating rules.”
