BJP president J P Nadda on Friday accused Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik of outsourcing the administration to bureaucrats.
Nadda attacked the state’s BJD government while addressing a rally in Kalahandi district on the occasion of the completion of nine years of the Narendra Modi government.
“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 said.
Alleging that Naveen Patnaik has “outsourced the total administration to officers,” Nadda claimed that the people of the state are deprived of basic facilities despite the BJD’s uninterrupted rule for 23 years.
Claiming that Odisha remained backwards under the BJD rule, he asserted that the state’s “per capita income is lowest”, its average monthly income for agricultural households is lowest while incidents of crime against women are increasing.
“It is time for the lotus (BJP symbol) to bloom in Odisha,” Nadda said. He claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has provided ration to 3.5 crore people of the state’s population of 4.5 crore population.
The BJP leader also alleged that the actual beneficiaries are not getting houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana in Odisha. “Ineligible people are getting houses. There will be a probe. I will speak to Union (rural development) minister Giriraj Singh. Those involved in the scam will be put behind bars,” he said.
Noting that as many as 11 crore people across the country have availed the benefits of the Ayushman Bharat Yojana, he said the people of Odisha are being deprived of the scheme as Patnaik is not implementing it.
Union ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Bisheswar Tudu and other senior party leaders were present at the rally.
Nadda also held discussions with office bearers and workers of Kalahandi Lok Sabha constituency and met a few prominent citizens in different fields before flying back to Delhi this afternoon.
Earlier in the day, the BJP leader offered prayers at Maa Manikeswari temple near here.
