BHUBANESWAR: As the war of words between the Biju Janta Dal (BJD) and Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) intensified in Odhisa, senior BJD leader and agriculture minister Damodar Rout lashed out at BJP government for its failure to fulfill promises made during the 2014 polls.
At a media conference, Rout demanded an answer from the PM Narendra Modi and state BJP leader on how many promises, which were made during the 2014 polls, have actually been kept.
“The Prime Minister had promised to create 2 crore jobs every year for unemployed youths in the country, but how many jobs have been created so far?” Rout questioned.
“Modi had also promised to increase Minimum Support Price (MSP) of paddy by one and half times, but did he implement the announcement?” Rout added.
He pointed that there were many promises made by the PM, including provision of Rs 15 lakh for every family in the country after seizure of black money, which has not been kept too.
Stating that the Prime Minister has so far visited 134 countries, Rout questioned the money spent from the exchequer for Modi's foreign visits and the amount of foreign investment coming to country because of the visits.
While lashing out, the senior minister also pinpointed PM’s costly dresses and shoes.
Criticising the all round failure of Modi government, Rout said the growth rate of the country is less than China after it decreased by 2.57 per cent since 2014.
He also criticised PM’s demonetisation move.
“Before challenging chief minister Naveen Patnaik for an open debate, the state BJP leaders should give a comparative picture of growth during the last 17 years in Odisha and four BJP-ruled states,” he said.
Making a comparison between Odisha and different BJP-ruled states, the minister said the literacy rate in Odisha (both male and female) is higher than BJP ruled Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. While Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) is 40 in Odisha, it is 49 and 46 in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh respectively, he said and added that Odisha's GDP growth rate is 7.94 per cent, which is higher than Rajasthan (4.94 per cent), Gujarat (7.31 per cen), Chhattisgarh (1.77 Per cent) and Jharkhand (1.65 per cent).