BHUBANESWAR: AS the war of words between BJD and BJP intensified, senior BJD leader and Agriculture Minister Damodar Rout on Thursday lashed out at the BJP-led NDA Government at the Centre for its failure to fulfill promises made during 2014 elections.
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi and State BJP leaders should reply to the people how many poll promises made in 2014 have been kept,” Rout said at a media conference here. The Prime Minister had promised to create two crore jobs every year for unemployed youths in the country, Rout said and asked how many jobs have been created so far.
Besides, Modi had promised to increase Minimum Support Price (MSP) on paddy by one and half a times, Rout said and asked whether he has implemented this announcement. There are several other promises made by the Prime Minister including provision of `15 lakh for every family in the country after seizure of black money which has not been kept, he said.
Stating that the Prime Minister has so far visited 134 countries, Rout asked about the money spent from the exchequer for this and the amount of foreign investment coming to country because of the visits. The senior Minister also referred to the costly dresses and shoes of the Prime Minister.
Criticising the all-round failure of Modi Government, Rout said the growth rate of India has been less than China after it decreased by 2.57 per cent since 2014. Rout also criticised Modi Government for demonetisation. 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 IMR is 40 in Odisha, it is 49 and 46 in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh respectively, he said and added that Odisha GDP growth rate at 7.94 pc is higher than Rajasthan (4.94%), Gujarat (7.31 %), Chhattisgarh (1.77 %) and Jharkhand (1.65 %).