BHUBANESWAR: Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee on Wednesday stepped up its offensive against Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of his May 26 visit to the State by quizzing him on promises made during 2014 general elections.Seeking to pin the Prime Minister down on the issue of unemployment, uncontrolled fuel price hike, demonetisation, farmers’ suicides and Centre’s support to the arbitrary actions of Chhattisgarh Government in blocking the free flow of Mahanadi water, OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik and Leader of Opposition Narsingh Mishra said people of the State are eagerly waiting for Modi’s reply on these issues.
“The Prime Minister is coming to the State to celebrate completion of his fourth year in office. People will judge him by only one issue and that is his stand on the ‘illegal’ activities of BJP Government in Chhattisgarh,” Patnaik said.As construction activities on the upper stream of river Mahanadi is going unhindered even after formation of a Tribunal, Modi should clarify whether he supports the action of Chhattisgarh or the demand of people of Odisha, Patnaik said.
Accusing the BJD Government of failing to protect the State’s interest, Patnaik urged the Prime Minister to announce a special package of Rs 1 lakh crore for construction of irrigation projects as a compensatory measure to the water loss sustained due to illegal blockage of water flow in Mahanadi by the neighbouring State.The Prime Minister had promised to create employment opportunities for 2 crore youth annually. He should tell the people how many youths have been provided employment in the last four years, Mishra said.
Launching a scathing attack on Modi for unbridled fuel price hike, Mishra said the Centre introduced Goods and Services Tax (GST) with a slogan “One Nation, One Tax”. The people want to know why different taxes are being imposed on petrol and diesel in different states. If the Centre can legislate GST, it has the power to make necessary amendment to bring the petroleum products under GST regime. Instead of shifting the blame to the State, the Centre should immediately take corrective measures to check the price by bringing the fuel under GST.The senior Congress leaders further asked the Prime Minister to explain what happened to his promise of increasing the minimum support price of paddy by one and half times even after four years.