Bhubaneswar: The MLAs of Congress party today resorted to a novel protest following their suspension from the Odisha Assembly over ‘unruly behaviour’.

Wearing specially-designed T-shirts, the Congress legislators, including their floor leader Rama Chandra Kadam, were seen at a popular hangout zone in Jaydev Vihar area in the capital city here.

The special designed T-shirts displayed various data related to the crimes against women in the state on their back.

As per the data displayed on the T-shirts, as many as 64,460 women and children went missing in Odisha in last five years.

Similarly, the state recorded at least 54 cases of gangrape in last eight months, they claimed.

The T-shirts also displayed ‘Suspended MLA’, ‘Crime: Question on women safety in Odisha’ on the front.

Cong story pic 2

The Congress MLAs sipped tea at a stall and were seen discussing various issues with the denizens.

Altogether 12 Congress MLAs were suspended from the Assembly for seven days after they disrupted the proceedings demanding a discussion on ‘rising’ crimes against women in the state yesterday. The Congress legislators also sought the formation of a House committee on the issue.

Following their suspension, the Congress MLAs refused to leave the Assembly and even announced that they will spend the night inside the House.

However, they were later removed from the Assembly by the security personnel.

Speaker Surama Padhy toady suspended two Congress MLAs--Tara Prasad Bahinipati and Ramesh Jena—after they staged a protest in the well of the House by beating gongs.

It is worth mentioning here that the Congress party had earlier announced that its workers will gherao the Assembly on March 27 as part of their protest against the ‘rise’ in crimes against the woman in the state.