Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], March 11 (ANI): The Congress MLAs protested in the Odisha Assembly premises on Monday, against the alleged rise in the incidents of crimes committed against women in the state.

Congress state president Bhakta Charan Das said the safety and protection of women had to be ensured by the government.

'The safety and protection of women has to be ensured by the government...gang rapes are being committed, younger girls are being raped,' he said.

Another Congress leader Srikant Jena said that Odisha was heading to become the 'number one state' in crimes committed against women.

'Odisha is becoming the number one state in the crimes against women... not only in our state, but all the other states there has been a rise of crime against women... Why is this happening?' Jena said speaking to ANI.

Earlier, BJD MP Sasmit Patra came out heavily against BJP and accused the party of indulging in a 'systemic conspiracy' to eliminate the 'rich legacy' of the former CM Biju Patnaik.

Patra also alleged that the BJP tried to change the name of the state's sports awards, which were in the name of Biju Patnaik, and the date of Panchayati Raj Diwas, which was earlier on the birth anniversary of Biju Patnaik.

Speaking to ANI, the BJD MP said 'It has been a few months since the BJP came to power in Odisha. There has been a systemic conspiracy to eliminate the rich legacy of the late Biju Patnaik.'

'They tried to change the name of the state's sports awards, which were in the name of Biju Babu. They had to backtrack when there was an opposition. They wanted to change the Panchayati Raj Diwas from March 5, the birth anniversary of Biju Babu and changed it to another date. There was a holiday...but it was struck off from the calendar... Apart from that, Biju Babu statues have been defaced,' he stated.

Accusing the BJP of doing 'extremely low levels of politics,' Patra said the people of the state have realized their 'mistake' of electing the BJP.

'These are the extremely low levels of politics happening in Odisha under the BJP's government...We have been raising these issues in the state but now we will raise it in the Parliament. People of Odisha have realized that they've made a big mistake by electing the BJP,' he further stated. (ANI)