The Naveen Patnaik government which attempted to clear the proposed Posco project site of the local residents by using force on Wednesday went on the back foot after the arrival of CPI general secretary A.B. Bardhan.
It removed prohibitory orders clamped at the site since last week and allowed the anti-Posco activists to hold a rally at Balituth. More than three thousand people attended the meeting addressed by Mr Bardhan.
What is quite significant is that most of the anti-displacement movement leaders, including the Posco Pratirodh Sangram Samiti (PPSS) chief Abhaya Sahoo, who had gone underground to avoid police action, resurfaced and shared dais with the veteran Communist leader. Not a single policeman was seen at the site.
Unlike the previous days, there was no checking of vehicles or denial of permission to media persons to enter the area.
In his address, Mr Bardhan congratulated the local residents for boldly facing the police atrocities.
“You have preferred to take bullets on chest to surrendering your birth rights. No project can be successfully executed by use of force,” said Mr Bardhan Stating that the Patnaik government was trying to replicate its Kalinga Nagar strategy at Posco project area, the CPI leader said the government must desist from such activity. The PPSS leader Abhaya Sahoo said the Posco problem could be solved only if the chief minister held talks with the different stakeholders.
“In the last five years, the CM has not called us for any talks. Instead, he has preferred to use force against us. If he is interested for talks, we will certainly cooperate,” Mr Sahoo said.
In a significant development, soon after the meeting was over in the evening, Mr Bardhan announced that his party MP Bibhu Prasad Tarai would attend the meeting of Jagatsinghpur district MLAs and MPs to be held in Bhubaneswar on Thursday.
The CPI general secretary himself is likely to meet the CM on Thursday.