Bhubaneswar: The state BJP women's wing on Monday announced to launch a 10-day state-wide campaign for the safety and dignity of women from May 17.
The programme will be named Mahila Surakhsya and Samman Yatra.
Sources said the programme was being considered as a move to counter the BJD's plan to gain political mileage from its Save Mahanadi campaign beginning on May 16 from west Odisha.
The women's wing on Monday also brought out a rally protesting against the state government's failure to check crimes against women. Later, a women's delegation marched to Raj Bhavan to present a memorandum to the governor against the state government.
BJP state women wing chief Pravati Parida said: "We have given an ultimatum to the state government to check crimes against women. If they fail to check it, we will launch our protest from May 17."
According to plan, the BJP plans to reach out to 50,000 villages and touch one crore women on the issue. During the campaign, it will raise the issue as to how the girls have been forced to commit suicide. They will also raise the issue of the Kunduli gang-rape. They will sensitise women how seven rapes take place in the state daily on an average. The delegation will also cite how 1,953 rape cases were reported in 2016.
Parida said: "In most of the cases, the perpetrator of crimes are either supporters or relatives of BJD members. Under political pressure, the police have failed to take any action and put them behind the bar. The state is no more safe for women."
Taking a dig at the BJP, BJD chief whip Amar Prasad Satpathy said: "They should first visit UP and other BJP-ruled states. Our government is concerned about the safety and dignity of women. In all the cases, the culprits have been arrested. Already, rape incidents are being treated as red flag cases and investigations are being conducted on a fast-track basis."
The issue of crimes against minor girls had also found an echo in the recently concluded budget session of the Assembly. On behalf of chief minister Naveen Patnaik, parliamentary affairs minister Bikram Keshari Arukh had said: "The state government is attaching priority on taking exemplary action against the accused involved in the crime against women."
