BJP’s Baijayant Panda accuses CM Naveen of keeping Odisha poor

Bhubaneswar: BJP national vice president Baijayant Panda on Tuesday asked Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to explain why Odisha is lagging behind many states even after ruling the state uninterrupted for almost 25 years.

Hitting out at the chief minister for keeping the state poor despite abundant resources, Panda said, “Prime Minister Narendra Modi made India the fifth largest economy within 10 years. Modi’s next goal is to make it the third largest economy in the world. The Chief Minister should explain to the people why even after being in power for quarter of a century, he failed to bring the state to fifth position in the country.

Panda, who is contesting from Kendrapara Lok Sabha seat, said the Prime Minister has rightly said that rampant corruption, bribery and PC culture are the major obstacles in the way of progress. Change of power has become inevitable to take the state on the path of rapid economic progress.
He said that the farmers of the state are the most affected due to the anti-farmer policies of the BJD regime. While the BJD has miserably failed to fulfill its promise of providing assured irrigation to at least 35 per cent of agricultural land in each block of the state, farmers are suffering huge losses due to lack of cold storage.

Touching on the five points of the BJP manifesto, Panda said his party aims to build 75,000 km of new roads, develop an industrial corridor connecting Sambalpur, Rourkela, Dhamra and Paradip, fill 65,000 out of 1.5 lakh vacancies in the first two years. Will keep its promise.
On 5T president VK Pandian’s claim that the BJD chief minister will take oath on June 9, Panda said, only two people cannot form a government by traveling in a helicopter.