Bhubaneswar: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday took a dig at the Odisha government over a new scheme launched by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Addressing a press meet in Bhubaneswar, leader of opposition (LoP) in the state Assembly Jaynarayan Mishra alleged that the ‘Aam Odisha Naveen Odisha’ scheme is meant for large scale corruption. In fact, the scheme should have been named ‘Nabin Odisha, Loot Odisha,” the senior BJP leader said.
Mishra alleged that the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government has conspired to loot Rs 2,000 crore of the nearly Rs 4,000 crore meant for the new scheme. Corruption will take place in the form of 50 per cent commission, he claimed.
Coming down heavily on the Naveen Patnaik government over the use of BJD symbol in the advertisement for the new scheme, Mishra said the advertisement shows that the popularity of the ruling BJD has nosedived.
Due to its shrinking popularity, BJD has now tried hard to use the party symbol in the government scheme, he said, adding that under no circumstances can party symbols or party propaganda be used in official advertisements.
The state government has flouted all the rules and propagated the party slogan with government funds, Mishra claimed, and said the BJP will give a fitting reply to the ruling party.
Stating that Sarpanches and panchayat samiti members are staging protest over their diminishing power and role, the BJP leader said this scheme has been put in the hands of officers to loot the state.
Claiming that democracy is in danger in the state, Mishra alleged that the BJD MLAs are busy in erecting tents and arranging tea and snacks for officers.
Claiming that all the schemes announced by Naveen during the last 23 years have failed to deliver, the BJP leader said the Chief Minister launched new programmes ahead of elections and forgets everything later. All his announcements are limited to announcements and the poor people of Odisha do not get any benefit, while Ministers, MLAs and officers get richer, Mishra claimed.
The BJP leader sought to know if the Chief Minister has gone through the CAG report which has pointed out corruption in various schemes, including PMAY and scholarship programme in the state. Naveen’s claim about a clean administration has turned out to be ‘hollow’, he claimed.
