Opposition Congress spearheads shutdown in Odisha over mining scam

The opposition Congress party in Odisha organised a 12-hour shutdown on Tuesday and demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik over his alleged involvement in multi-crore mining scam.

Protestors called for the shutdown after the Justice M.B. Shah Commission report on the mining scam allegedly indicted the Patnaik Government.

"We have called this shutdown after we saw the report of Shah Commission in which the state's mining scam worth Rs 60, 000 crore (nearly $10 billion) was proven. So we have called this shutdown on the basis of the report," said the president of the Odisha State Congress Committee, Jaydev Jena.

Normal life was disrupted following the shutdown, leaving commuters stranded across different bus stops and stations.

As all the public and private sectors supported the shutdown, shops, schools, colleges, banks, and other offices were shut, which included the national highway as well.

The commission submitted its final report on Odisha to the central government. Citing the report, excerpts of which were leaked to a section of the media recently, the Congress party said the chief minister must resign and sought a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the mining scam.