Bhubaneswar: Hitting out at the BJD government over alleged corruption and ‘officer raj’, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday said Odisha needs a double-engine government of BJP to ensure ‘bulldozer’ action against land, sand and forest mafia.
Addressing a public meeting at Banapur under Chilika Assembly seat and Puri Lok Sabha constituency, the BJP stalwart lashed out at BJD accusing it of forcing ‘officer raj’ on the state and encouraging corruption and dictatorship.
Asserting that no officer should be given so much power that he should start running the government sidelining people’s representatives, he said running government is the responsibility of those elected by the people.
With bureaucrats controlling the government, dictatorial tendency is witnessed in Odisha amid curtailment of the rights of people, the BJP heavyweight said.
The Naveen Patnaik-led government is so much surrounded by officers that it has hijacked the free ration scheme of the Central government, the firebrand leader said, attacking the BJD government for not implementing the Ayushman Bharat scheme in Odisha.
The BJP stalwart emphasised that Odisha needs a double-engine government of BJP to ensure ‘bulldozer’ action against land, sand, forest and cattle mafia in the state as done in Uttar Pradesh.
Seeking people’s support for BJP candidates in the ongoing elections, he said the country has witnessed rapid development in the last ten years under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Similarly, Odisha will also witness speedy and holistic development if people vote BJP to power in the state, he said.
Coming down heavily on the BJD government over the missing keys of Ratna Bhandar of Puri Jagannath Temple, the UP CM said, “Bhagwan Ke Khajane Main Bhi Dacoity”, which is very unfortunate and shameful.
Even the keys of Lord Jagannath’s Ratna Bhandar have gone missing and the Lord’s treasury looted during Naveen Patnaik regime, he said.
Stressing that states having double-engine governments like in Uttar Pradesh are getting huge benefits from Central schemes, Adityanath said the Odisha the government is obstructing implementation of the Ayushman Bharat Yojana, depriving lakhs of people of its benefits.
If BJP forms government in Odisha, all Central schemes will be implemented to ensure rapid development of the state and welfare of its people, he said.