Odisha state Congress stages protest over price rise, unemployment and GST hike

Bhubaneswar: Congress held protests across Odisha on Friday as part of the party's nationwide protest over skyrocketing prices for key goods, rising unemployment, and GST on basic food items. The party accused both the Central and state governments of pursuing "anti-people policies."

In an effort to gherao the governor's residence, the protesters marched from the ADM office toward Raj Bhavan in the state capital under the direction of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) President Sarat Pattnayak.

However, the police halted them and forbade them from going to Raj Bhavan, according to the police. The demonstrators held a sit-in on the highway while shouting abuse at the BJD, which is in power in the state, and the BJP-led NDA government at the federal level.

According to accounts, the police apprehended a number of Congress leaders and employees who attempted to scale the barricade in order to advance the march.

In opposition to the policies of the Center and the state, demonstrations were also conducted in district headquarters towns throughout the state.

Senior Congress officials addressed the crowd and railed against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that he had failed to run the economy and guide the nation in the correct direction.

"The BJD government is a collaborator with the BJP government at the centre in all anti-people measures, be it the improper application of the GST or other policies. They are to blame, said the PCC Chief, for rising unemployment.

The BJP had promised the nation's citizens that the GST would benefit consumers, but the Congress leader argued that the outcome was the exact reverse.

He claimed that when the GST Council voted to impose tariffs on fundamental food items used by the poor, the BJD government did nothing.

The BJP has failed to regulate the price of petroleum goods despite having promised "Ache Din" (happy days) in the run-up to the 2014 elections. During the NDA administration, prices for necessities have soared. The Congress leaders claimed that costs for gasoline, diesel, and cooking gas have grown by 45% to 70% since 2014.

They claimed that the price increase has been particularly painful on the poor, farmers, low income group, and middle class.

Although the BJP had previously asserted that all commodity costs would decrease, it has now slapped a 5% GST on items that are typically consumed by the poor, such as flattened and puffed rice, molasses, and flour. Sadly, they said, the Odisha government did not object to the Center's action.

Similar to how the BJP pledged to create two crore jobs annually during the election, Congress leaders said that throughout the last eight years of the BJP's administration, 15 crore young people had been jobless.