Bhubaneswar: The BJD on Friday said the Centre had shown its apathy towards the people of Western Odisha, saying nobody from the region found a place in the Union ministry even though the region sent five BJP MPs to Lok Sabha.
“By doing this, Prime Minister Modi has let down the people of Western Odisha. In contrast, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has given six Western Odisha MLAs a place in his council of ministers,” BJD leader Susanta Singh told mediapersons.
But senior BJP leader the party’s Odisha prabhari (minder) Arun Singh countered Susanta’s statement by pointing at Dharmendra Pradhan. The Prime Minister has given a cabinet berth to Dharmendra Pradhan, who has retained the petroleum ministry. “Is Pradhan not from western Odisha?” Arun asked.
Dharmendra is now a Rajya Sabha MP from Madhya Pradesh but he was the Deogarh MP in 2004-2009.
