Jairam Ramesh Asks Narendra Modi To Come Clean On BJP, BJD ‘Relationship Status’ In Odisha

New Delhi: Coinciding with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s marathon campaign in Odisha, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh on Saturday called him and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik as “two sides of the same coin”.

In a post on X, he also accused the BJP and the BJD of being “in cahoots” with each other with the later having bailed out the Modi government on a number of occasions in Parliament. “Na-veen and Na-rendra are two sides of the same coin. Why is the PM lying about his party’s ‘relationship status’ with the BJD?” he asked adding that the seat-sharing talks between the two parties earlier this year only confirmed what was already known.

“In the last 10 years, the BJD’s MPs in the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha have bailed out the Modi sarkar (government) on every contentious Bill, including on No-Confidence Motions. The BJD even supported the Rajya Sabha candidature of BJP leader Ashwini Vaishnav, who didn’t have enough BJP MLA voters to get elected,” the Congress leader said.

He further alleged that the BJP in return has spared them the “bullying and intimidation” which Opposition-ruled states face. “There has been no onslaught of ED-CBI enquiries and raids, and no meddling by the Raj Bhawan. Can the PM come clean on his party’s association with the BJD? Is this a marriage or is it a partnership?” he asked.

He also accused the Modi government of not taking any corrective measures after the Balasore train accident in which 293 people were killed and over a 1,000 injured.

Accusing the BJP of having weakened the forest rights of tribal communities, he added; “The new Act undermines the Forest Rights Act of 2006, doing away with provisions for the consent of local communities and other statutory requirements for forest clearance in vast area. The intention, of course, is to hand over our forests to the prime minister’s corporate friends.”

CHECK HIS POST HERE

During Modi last visit to Odisha on May 6, Jairam Ramesh had hit out at the Narendra Modi government at the Centre for a steady decline in Central funding to Odisha. He stated that Odisha has suffered gross neglect at the hands of ‘Modi Sarkar’ as the Centre has reduced Central funding in recent years.