Bhubaneswar: A war of words erupted between Bharatiya Janata Party and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) over the ruling party’s poll promise of providing free electricity to the people of Odisha.
The ruling BJD hit back after senior BJP leader and former state party president Samir Mohanty sought a clarification on the number of families to get the benefit of the free electricity promise made by the regional party.
In a counter-attack, BJD’s Berhampur Lok Sabha candidate Bhrugu Buxipatra told reporters that the saffron party seems to have been rattled by the announcement of free electricity made by the Naveen Patnaik-led party.
Bhrugu, who had quit the saffron party and joined BJD on the eve of the twin elections in the state, claimed that after the first phase of polls, BJP has come to realise that it is going to face crushing defeat at the hustings.
He said that the BJD manifesto has clearly mentioned that around 90 per cent of consumers in the state will be eligible to get free electricity. “However, BJP is spreading lies to mislead people. It appears that the saffron party has been rattled by our free electricity promise,” the BJD leader said.
Hitting out at BJP for its claim about power tariff, Bhrugu further claimed that power tariff in Odisha is much lower than that in many BJP-ruled states in the country including Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
