Crime Against Women In Odisha Reaches At An Alarming Point During BJP Rule: Congress

•  Congress Stages 9-Hour Fast In Protest 

By Jagadananda Pradhan

BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Pradesh Congress today staged a nine-hour long fast during the visit of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighting multiple failures of BJP government in last one year in all fronts. It focussed particularly on abnormal rise of crime against women in the state among others in the peace-loving state, like Odisha.

Within just one year of the BJP government coming to power, incidents of violence, rape, and gang rape against women and children have assumed alarming proportions. The congress also charged utter collapse of health system in the state in recent days.

Led by PCC President Shri Bhakta Charan Das, Senior leaders of the Pradesh Congress, Women’s Congress, Youth Congress, Student Congress, PCC workers, and activists took part in the hunger strike from 9 AM to 6 PM.

Coming down heavily  on the state government, the PCC President Bhakta Charan Das said, while an average of 7 cases of rape were reported daily during the previous government's tenure, in the past year, this number has surged dangerously to 15 women per day.

The PCC President said, the horrific gang rape incident in Gopalpur, Ganjam district, has shocked the entire nation and is a matter of national shame. In the Chief Minister's own district of Keonjhar, specifically in Harichandanpur, the rape and murder of a woman have created deep resentment and distrust among the public towards the government, he alleged.

Shockingly, Das alleged, “If women are unsafe  in the Chief Minister's own district, it is evident how dire the situation is across the state. Similarly, in Baripada, a woman was abducted from her home at night and raped, highlighting the complete collapse of law and order in the state. The rape of a yoga teacher in Kendrapara yesterday has left everyone ashamed. Despite such heinous incidents occuring one after another in districts like Puri, Angul, Kandhamal, and across the state, the state government and the Chief Minister’s Home Department have utterly failed to check the suring crime against the women.”.

“These frequent incidents of crime against the women in the state exposes the administrative incompetence and callousness of the Chief Minister and the BJP government. The safety of women has become a question mark in the state today”,he alleged.

 During the last Assembly session, when Congress demanded a statement from the Chief Minister on the issue of rising violence against women, all Congress MLAs were unjustly suspended. The consequences are now evident to all, yet the BJP government remains in a state of deep slumber. 

In the 21st century, in 2025, a cholera outbreak caused by contaminated water in four districts, including Jajpur, has claimed over 24 lives, with more than 5,000 people affected. The government lacks any means to control the disease which has taken into the shape of the epidemic, Das charged.

 Criticising the BJP government,over the celebration of  its one-year rule,Das said the government  is celebrating over the bodies of those who died of cholera as well as due to  violence against women in the state.

“If the Prime Minister has the courage, he should visit the site of the Gopalpur gang-rape spot along with the Chief Minister and assure the people of Odisha that such incidents will not occur furthermore. We challenge the Prime Minister to visit the cholera-affected areas of Jajpur district, to take stock of the situation, and issue specific instructions to the Chief Minister and Health Minister to address the government's failures”.

 In the past year,the PCC President  said,this government apart from changing colours and engaging in self-promotion, it  has neither undertaken nor initiated any work for public welfare.

 While the Congress called for a peaceful hunger strike, the midnight arrests of the Youth Congress President and hundreds of Youth and Student Congress workers to prevent their participation in the hunger strike reveal the undemocratic and cowardly mind-set of the BJP government,he added.

 “In just one year, the BJP government has only deceived the people of Odisha with empty promises”,he maintained.

Among others senior congress leaders like AICC Odisha In-charge Ajay Kumar Lallu, Jayadev Jena, Shrikant Jena, Jagannath Pattnaik, Ramachandra Khuntia, Suresh Kumar Rautray, Panchanan Kanungo, Shibananda Ray, Anant Sethi, Sameer Rautray, Amarnath Pradhan, Subhendu Mohanty, Siddharth Swarup Das, Sujit Padhi, Yashobant Singh Laguri, Sudhanshu Shekhar Deo, Rajesh Mishra, Nagendra Pradhan, Udit Pradhan, Manoranjan Das, Prashant Champati, Manas Ranjan Acharya, Arvind Das, Prashant Shatapathi, Subrat Mahapatra, Bandita Parida, Er. Manas Nayak, Prakash Jena, Shantanu Sahu, Krishna Chandra Pati, Kanak Mallick, Subhas Pradhan, Jayashree Patra, Deepak Mahapatra, Kusum Pradhan, Alok Nand, Jayant Bhoi, Pradeep Mahapatra, Tapas Sethi, Manas Mallick, Shilpishree Harichandan, Kailash Sahu, Rajkishore Barik, Manoranjan Rautray, Lingaraj Sahu, Jayakrishna Subudhi, Prakash Mishra, Kisan Panda, Debashish Nayak, Rajni Mohanti, Nalinikant Nayak, Pradipta Sahu, Mihir Acharya, Shreyasmita Panda, Sushant Tripathy, Deva Prasad Nayak, Rajiv Pattnaik, and Bijayanand Chaulia attended the fast.