Bhubaneswar: The ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Odisha slammed Friday the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over discontinuance of Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) and non-sanction of seven lakh Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) houses. This development came in the backdrop of BJP national president JP Nadda’s speech at Bhawanipatna that targeted the Odisha government.
In his reaction, BJD spokesperson Sasmit Patra said, “Nadda’s speech was aimed at motivating the state BJP leaders and cadre. They are demoralised and frustrated due to their massive losses to the BJD in by-elections as well as losing all 30 districts of Odisha to our party in 2022 Zilla Parishad elections.”
“It would have been proper if Nadda had clarified when the BJP government at the Centre will restart providing five kilograms rice per person per month under PMGKAY. It would have been good if he had also clarified when the seven lakh Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) houses would be provided to Odisha that has been blocked by the Centre due to the conspiracy by state BJP MPs in Delhi,” Patra added.
Had the state BJP leaders properly briefed Nadda about Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana, he would have appreciated how BSKY provides Rs 10 lakh of health insurance for women – double the amount provided under Ayushman Bharat, Patra pointed out.
The BJD leader said 4.5 crore people of Odisha have blessed CM Naveen Patnaik with five consecutive terms in office for 23 years and still counting. “It is because he (Patnaik) serves them (people of Odisha) and they in turn love him. People who believe in serving and not ruling will understand this,” Patra maintained.
Earlier in the day, Nadda accused the state government of ‘outsourcing the administration to bureaucrats’. “I wonder who has been running Odisha! Is this the officers or leaders who are running this state? I want to know this. Someone told me that it’s actually the officers who are running the state, they are ruling it,” Nadda had said.