New Delhi: Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the ruling party in Odisha, took an aggressive stand against the Centre during the first phase of the Budget Session by criticising the latter’s policies. However, the BJD MPs did not mention Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) while criticising the Centre.
During the first phase of the Budget Session that commenced January 31 and ended February 11, the BJD MPs attacked the Centre for not opening the Pradhan Mantri Aawas Yojana-Gramin (PMAY-G) portal for people of Odisha despite repeated requests in this regard from the state government. They alleged that the Centre was not treating all states equally by citing the case of Karnataka, for which the PMAY-G portal was opened by the Centre.
However, the BJD MPs didn’t mention BJP even once while citing the case of Karnataka. While raising the issue in Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, none of the BJD MPs criticised the BJP, which is the ruling party in Karnataka.
Several regional parties often criticise the Centre for favouring the BJP-ruled states. The Shiv Sena in Maharashtra had criticised the Centre for favouring BJP-ruled states in the management of Covid-19 pandemic.
BJD MPs Sasmit Patra, Amar Patnaik, Sujeet Kumar and Bhartruhari Mahtab made reference to Karnataka while raising the issue in Parliament but skipped attacking BJP in their speeches.
Speaking on the Motion of Thanks to President’s address in the Rajya Sabha, Patra said the Chief Minister of Odisha had written thrice to the Centre requesting it to open the PMAY-G portal so that over six lakh families from the coastal state can be included under the housing scheme.
“This window PMAY-G portal was opened for Karnataka and around 25 lakh families of the southern state were included under the housing scheme. We appreciate that. But, what is the mistake of Odisha people that the Centre did not open the portal for them,” Patra said.
Interestingly, the BJD government in Odisha received a lot of appreciation from Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the first phase of the Budget Session.
While giving the example of cooperative federalism, the Prime Minister praised the Odisha government for proper implementation of the central schemes.
The PM also appreciated BJD MP Prasanna Acharya for lauding the Centre for Veer Baal Diwas initiative and commemorating Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.
Kuldeep Singh, OP