TV
As the 'Quit Steering Wheel' agitation by the Odisha Drivers’ Mahasangha entered its fourth day on Friday, transport services across the state remain crippled. However, the ongoing protest took a dramatic political turn on Thursday night, after the union announced a temporary pause, specifically for Congress leader and opposition leader Rahul Gandhi’s scheduled rally in Bhubaneswar today.
In a video message released late last night, Mahasangha president Prashant Menduli stated that vehicles associated with the Congress party would not be stopped during the protest on July 11. The union has taken the decision following a request from the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Bhakta Das, he said.
“Out of respect for his appeal, we will not obstruct Congress vehicles today,” Menduli clarified, while also maintaining that the protest remains otherwise active until the government provides a written assurance on their six-point demand charter.
The move has sparked sharp criticism and political commentary. Odisha Transport Minister Bibhuti Bhusan Jena, in a social media post, questioned the intentions behind selectively lifting the protest for a political event.
“The government has already discussed and is considering the demands seriously. There’s no need to continue the agitation. But relaxing the protest just for a Congress program shows clear political influence. Innocent drivers are being misled,” he wrote.
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Meanwhile, PCC president Bhakta Das had earlier accused the Odisha government of using the protest to disrupt Rahul Gandhi’s rally. The Congress has alleged that the state government failed to act swiftly on the driver stir for political reasons.
The union's sudden soft corner for the Congress rally, however, has added a political hue to what was projected as a political agitation. While the Mahasangha insists that its demands are non-political and in the interest of drivers, the exemption for a party event has raised questions over neutrality.
With fuel supplies under stress and lakhs of commuters continuing to suffer, the political undertones have complicated an already tense situation.
