Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Congress Wednesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of falsely claiming credit for establishing the Indian Oil refinery at Paradip in Jagatsinghpur district.
Addressing a press conference, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Sarat Pattanayak and former chief Prasad Harichandan asserted that the project was initiated by ex-PM Manmohan Singh.
Inaugurating the mono ethylene glycol project in Paradip refinery, along with several other projects, Modi on Tuesday said the previous governments had not shown interest in completing projects on time. He claimed that projects stalled during previous administrations were completed during the tenure of the BJP-led Centre in the past 10 years.
“The project was started in 2002. However, no progress was made till 2013-14. It is the NDA government which completed it,” Modi had said at the event, which was attended by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
OCC president Pattanayak claimed the UPA government had allocated Rs 35,000 crore for the project and criticised both the BJP and BJD for attempting to take credit for it.
Harichandan added that former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao had decided to set up the project in Odisha and proposed land acquisition for it. JB Patnaik then acquired the land. He said Prime Minister AB Vajpayee laid the foundation stone in 2000 with the aim to complete the project by 2003, but it faced delays.
The Congress leader noted that the Manmohan Singh government allocated funds for the refinery in 2004, and it was nearly completed by the end of 2013. After assuming power in 2014, Modi inaugurated the project and took credit for it, he claimed.
PTI