Orissa Bandh observed from Dawn to Dusk

A 12-hour Dawn to Dusk Bandh called by the opposition parties in Orissa, went successfully barring some stray incidents of violence and arson. The Orissa Bandh had a significant impact on the normal life in Bhubaneswar and other major towns of Orissa. Besides Bhubaneswar, Puri, Cuttack, Rourkela, Sambalpur, Balangir, Jajpur, Paradeep, Bhadrak, Jeypore, Nabarangpur, Bhadrak, Koraput, Malkanagiri, Rayagada, Phulbani and other towns of the state also witnesses a total Bandh.

Opposition leaders courted arrest elsewhere in the state. Around 300 leaders and activists have been arrested in Bhubaneswar. Train, bus and flight services were badly affected. Activists burnt tyres to block the roads. There was hardly any traffic on NH-5 because of the impact of Orissa Bandh. A large number of police personnel were deployed everywhere to prevent any untoward incident. According to sources, there was over 50% attendance in the State Secretariat and other government offices in Bhubaneswar.

Khurda witnessed violent incidents with mobs ransacking the Irrigation Office and setting important documents and files on fire. They also damaged and burnt many government vehicles. a Timber Factory in Jagatpur, Cuttack was vandalised during the Bandh call.

The Bandh supporters stopped private vehicles on the roads and forced shopkeepers to down their shutters. They also roughed up people driving cars and two-wheelers. In some places, they damaged the wind shields of some private vehicles.

The Bandh was called by the Congress and Left Parties called for the Bandh on the issues such as fake medicine racket, female foeticide, fake mark sheet scandal and cholera death. Ironically, the cholera patients were badly affected in Kashipur. As the Bandh supporters did not allow vehicles to operate, patients were brought to the hospitals in cots.

The Congress and Left Parties termed today's Orissa Bandh a huge success and stated that people have responded positively to the Bandh call, as they were fed up with this government. However, the ruling BJD and BJP accused the opposition parties of resorting to violent tactics in order to make the Bandh successful.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik criticized the Congress and Left Parties of forcing people to participate in the Bandh. He claimed that a large number of anti-social elements have been arrested during the bandh, which clearly suggests the use of muscle power during the Bandh.