Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], March 27 : Odisha Congress leader Ram Chandra Kadam called the state government 'blind', further stating that they imposed a lathi charge on the party workers because they were scared.
Kadam also stated that Congress would not bow down and would keep fighting.
"The state government is scared and is a blind government. Our mothers and sisters are not safe here. They are lathi-charging us because they are scared. Congress will not bow down and will keep fighting..." Kadam said speaking to ANI.
Congress worker Rupaditya Mahapatra said that women in the state were not safe and questioned what the government was doing regarding the safety of women.
"Here women are not safe, during their regime, so many women have become victims of rape and assault...our question was regarding women safety and what is the govt doing for it?" Mahapatra said speaking to ANI.
She further stated that the party workers would continue to enter the Assembly, and no one would be able to stop them.
"We will enter the Assembly, they won't be able to stop us..." she further stated.
Earlier in the day, situations in Bhubaneswar escalated as the police resorted to a lathi charge to disperse Odisha Congress workers during their protest outside the Odisha Assembly against the suspension of 14 Congress MLAs from the House and crimes against women.
Protests turned violent as police used water cannons against the protestors. In resistance, Congress workers pelted chairs at the police.
On March 26, Odisha Assembly Speaker Surama Padhy suspended 12 Congress MLAs from the House for seven days on charges of "indiscipline, disrespecting the Chair, and violating rules" after they protested in the House's well on the same issue.
Odisha Minister Prithviraj Harichandan lashed out at the opposition for the clashes outside the Odisha Vidhan Sabha and stated that this kind of hooliganism was not acceptable and unexpected.
Speaking to ANI, Harichandan said, "The behavior that they showed yesterday and today is not acceptable. The kind of hooliganism they are showing is not expected from them..."
The Odisha Congress protest was on, demanding the formation of a committee to investigate crimes against women in the last eight months of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state. The state unit of the Congress was marching to the state assembly to press for their demands.