Congress-led INDIA bloc holds ‘Parivartan Rally’ in Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar: The Congress-led INDIA bloc on Tuesday held a ‘Parivartan Rally’ at Lower PMG in Bhubaneswar, stepping up its agitation over the amended Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) (MMDR) Act, the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and alleged irregularities in school textbooks.

Hundreds of Congress and INDIA bloc workers took part in the demonstration and raised slogans demanding repeal of the amended MMDR Act, action against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and the resignation of Odisha school and mass education minister Nityananda Gond.

The protesters also targeted the State government over errors reported in textbooks for students of Classes I to VIII. Congress leaders alleged that the errors reflected serious lapses in the textbook preparation and publication process and demanded accountability from the school and mass education department.

Several senior Congress leaders, including Tara Prasad Bahinipati, Sagar Charan Das and Jayadev Jena, were detained by police during the demonstration.

Mr Jena said the police were performing their duty but asserted that the Congress would continue its agitation over the MMDR Act, SIR and the textbook controversy. He also announced that the Congress and its INDIA bloc partners would observe a statewide bandh in Odisha on October 8.

The textbook controversy intensified on Tuesday following a reported intervention by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), which sought a detailed report from the State school and mass education department on the errors found in textbooks supplied to students of Classes I to VIII, official sources said.

The PMO has reportedly sought comprehensive details on the circumstances in which the errors occurred and how they found their way into the textbooks. The department has also been asked to furnish details of the expenditure incurred on the preparation and publication of the books, as well as information about the officials and others involved in the process and their respective roles.

The Congress has sought to make the textbook issue a major political plank against the State government, while the government has indicated that corrective and accountability measures are being taken over the reported lapses.

The ‘Parivartan Rally’ is part of the Opposition’s continuing campaign against the BJP government in Odisha, with the MMDR amendment, electoral-roll revision and textbook controversy emerging as major issues in the State’s political discourse.