BHUBANESWAR: Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan today slammed the ruling BJD and opposition Congress for misinterpreting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's statement on Odisha.
Reacting to the ruckus created by the BJD and Congress in the Assembly over Prime Minister's remark about Odisha poverty and underdevelopment, Pradhan said the two parties are trying to cover up their failure.
Referring to the Raghuram Rajan panel report ranking Odisha as most backward and least developed state in the country, the Union Minister said the report was published in 2013 when the Congress led UPA Government was in power at the Centre.
"Neither the BJD nor the Congress took offence to the Rajann panel report and reacted to it then as they are doing now," he remarked.
The Prime Minister had said that people give example of Odisha when the topics of poverty, malnutrition, illiteracy and unemployment are discussed. These are the index of backwardness as proposed by the Rajan panel report, Pradhan said.
"The BJP had taken these issues and the non-performance of the ruling BJD during the last 17 years to the people in the just concluded panchayat election. The overwhelming support of the voters to the BJP demonstrate that the voters have reposed faith in the pro-people policy of the Modi government at the Centre," he added.
Stating that the BJD is unable to digest the success of the BJP Prahdan said, "This is the beginning. There will be big change in the political scenario in the 2019 election to the Assembly."
The Union Minister said that the BJD has failed to read the writing in the wall. The BJP's astounding success in Badamba-Narsinghpur segment of the Cuttack district is pointer to the shape of things to come.
On the issue of unemployment, Pradhan dared the Chief Minister to deny that not a single unemployed youth from his assembly constituency Hinjili has migrated to other states in search of job in the last 17 years.