'Dictatorship in Odisha:' Congress slams govt over suppressing media

The Odisha unit of Congress on Wednesday slammed the state government for its alleged attempts to muzzle media. Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president, Sarat Pattnayak on Wednesday said their party would not tolerate BJD’s conspiracy to suppress journalists and media in the state.

Condemning such attempts by the state government, Pattanayak said, “In the name of democracy, dictatorship is now prevailing in Odisha. Whenever any media house tries to report the truth, there is a raid on their offices. Only people can judge all such attempts by the government.”

Pattanayak said that the Odisha government imposed restrictions on media entry at Lok Seva Bhawan and the lobby of the Assembly. Such restrictions were not prevalent during the Congress regime here.

“The journalists, who tried to report facts, are now facing a lot of problems in the state. Such has been the deterioration in the condition of journalists in the past 23 years,” Pattanayak added.

Meanwhile, the Odisha government and ruling BJD leaders could not be contacted over the allegations levelled by the OPCC chief.