BHUBANESWAR: National BJP president Amit Shah’s projection of BJP winning 120 seats in the next election came in for strong criticism in the Assembly on Tuesday with Agriculture Minister Damodar Rout questioning the basis on which such an assessment has been made.
As the State Government came in for strong criticism from the BJP members during discussion on the admissibility of an adjournment motion on farmers’ issues, the Minister targeted Modi and Amit Shah. Referring to Shah’s statement that Odisha has received funds to the tune of ` 4 lakh crore during the last three years, Rout said the Finance Commission is a constitutional body and its award is based on the demands of the State Government. “No BJP leader should claim any credit for this,” he said and challenged Shah’s projection of winning 120 seats.
The BJP members, however, staged a walk out alleging that the Minister was trying to divert attention from the Government’s failure on the farm sector by making such a political speech.