Cong, BJP to support bandh called by farmers outfit in Odisha

The opposition Congress and BJP extended their support to the state's leading farmers outfit call for a 12-hour Odisha bandh on February 21.

The Naba Nirman Krushak Sangathan (NNKS) has given the call for the bandh demanding proper minimum support rice on paddy, pension and prestige for the farmers.

Odisha Congress chief Niranjan Patnaik Tuesday announced his party's support to the NNKS's bandh call. "Farmers are our top priority," Patnaik said.

BJP Odisha unit president Basant Panda said the saffron party will extend support to NNKS, which has been demanding pension and proper price of the agricultural produce.

Panda on Monday said: "The farmers have rights to express their opinion and protest in a democracy. The state government has time and again tried to throttle their voice. We will protest the anti-farmer policies of the state government."
The CPI(Maoist) have also supported the NNKS's bandh call. The police have recovered banners at Baliguda in Kandhamal district where, the Maoists appealed to the people to support the NNKS bandh call and termed the state's BJD government as "anti-farmer."