BHUBANESWAR: Virtually kickstarting the campaign for 2024 general elections from Odisha, BJP national president JP Nadda on Thursday launched a scathing attack on the Congress and the “family-owned” parties including BJD, while giving a clarion call to party workers to install a double engine government to steer the State into the path of rapid economic progress.
Addressing a rally of around 25,000 party workers from panchayats at Janata Maidan here in his first ever visit to Odisha after assuming the charge of party president, Nadda said, the Congress has been reduced to a mere “brother-sister” party. “Today, we are fighting the Congress, but the party no longer remains national or Indian as it has become a brother and sister party,” he said.
Describing the Opposition political parties including Congress and BJD as family-owned outfits, he said, in as many as 12 states, the BJP is fighting against family-run parties. From north to south, every other political party is dynastic – be it the Abdullahs in Jammu and Kashmir to Karunanidhi family in Tamil Nadu… the Thackeray, Pawar families in the West to the Laloo Prasad Yadav-Tejaswvi Yadav and Mamata Banerjee-Abhisek Banerjee in the East. The BJD is also a family-based party, he said.
“On the contrary, the BJP is the only party that is ideology-based and values its cadres. It is only BJP that believes in ‘Seva hi Sangathan’. When no family-run parties or regional ones were visible on the field during the Covid-19 pandemic, it was only BJP workers who helped the people,” Nadda said.
Focussing on Odisha, Nadda termed the Naveen Patnaik government inefficient and corrupt and exhorted party workers to go to the people and tell them what the Narendra Modi government at Centre has done in the last few years and how the BJD government has plundered the huge financial assistance received from the Centre under various welfare schemes.
“It pains to see that dead bodies are carried on shoulders and expecting mothers are still carried on cycles or makeshift structures and some of them delivering babies on road due to non-availability of ambulance,” Nadda said adding when he was the Union Health Minister he had given all required assistance including adequate number of ambulances to Odisha.
Nadda slams Odisha govt
Hitting out at the State government for depriving more than 60 lakh families from the benefit of the Central health assurance scheme Ayushman Bharat, he urged the people to give a fitting reply to the BJD in the next election.
“It is a matter of shame that lakhs of poor people of the State are living in kutcha houses and pipe water supply to all households is not possible within the target year of 2022. Funds allocated under MGNREGS are embezzled through production of false and duplicate bills,” he added.
‘I have a small grouse against you that you are taking too long to bring the BJP to power in the State. The State must have a double engine government after the next election and it is your responsibility to make it happen,’ he said.