BJP brings out chargesheet against Odisha’s ruling BJD, portrays CM Naveen Patnaik as ‘Mum’

Bhubaneswar: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday brought a ‘chargesheet’ against Odisha’s ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD). The 60-page pictorial document is replete with allegations of corruption and nepotism by the Naveen Patnaik government.

Odisha state BJP unit president Manmohan Samal and other senior leaders of the party, including party’s national vice-president Baijayant Panda, were present during the release of the chargesheet.

The chargesheet titled Pachis Barsar Papapedi (Storehouse of 25 years of BJD sins) also carries a tagline —‘Kete Dina Au Sahiba, Parivartan Aniba (How long do we tolerate, it's time to bring a change). Most of the pages carry photographs of Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, his controversial close aide V Karthikeyan Pandian, BJD organising secretary Pranab Prakash Das and few top leaders of the party. These leaders have been portrayed as “bad guys” and accused of large-scale “corruption,” “loot of resources,” “murderer” and “dacoit.”

The chargesheet describes CM Naveen Patnaik as “Maun” which translates into English as “mum.” This epithet, according to political analysts, is a dig at CM Patnaik not taking actions against the ministers and bureaucrats indulging in corruption or unlawful activities.

There was no reaction for the BJD on the charges made by the BJP in the chargesheet.

While releasing the chargesheet, Union minister Bhupender Yadav said BJP is committed and fighting the elections to come to power and provide good governance.

“But here in Odisha, there have been a lot of irregularities in the 25 years of BJD rule. We have witnessed a declining graph of BJD as far as the upliftment of farmers, infrastructure, and other aspects are concerned. The Odisha government had promised to provide irrigation facilities to 35 per cent cultivable lands and set up cold storages in all the 314 blocks, but it has failed to achieve the target,” said Yadav.

The Union minister also said the BJD claimed that the KALIA (Krushak Assistance of Agriculture and Income Augmentation) scheme would bring a massive change in the lives of farmers, but the government later admitted that the number of beneficiaries under the scheme dropped.

“It shows that the BJD is working with an anti-farmer mindset. The government has failed in the last 25 years to increase irrigation, farmers' income, and setting up cold storage. Similarly, National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) data shows that Odisha is a place where the crime against women has increased. Here, the BJD government has failed miserably to give protection to women in the last 25 years. The rise in the number of missing children is also another area of concern along with the suicide of women here,” Yadav said.

The Union minister further said that there is a jobless situation for the youths in Odisha. The labourers from Odisha are migrating to other parts of the country. In the last one year, over 40,000 labourers have moved out of Odisha which has been highlighted by the media, he added.

“The BJD government has failed to meet the aspirations of the youths. Apart from this, 4300 lecturer posts are vacant in the state. It shows that the Higher Education system has made a mockery of Odisha’s culture when its literature is so rich. The total teachers in colleges and universities dropped to 40000 in 2019 from 43000 in 2015-16 while the tally is much better in West Bengal, Jharkhand and other states,” Yadav said.

The Union minister also targeted the Odisha government over high electricity tariff paid by state consumers.

“The Tamil Nadu Generation Distribution Corporation is buying power at 2.53 paisa per unit from Odisha while the consumers of the state are being charged 2.83 paisa per unit. The top leaders and those running the government in Odisha need to answer this to the people of the state,” said Yadav.