BHUBANESWAR: The BJD on Saturday dared Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to spell out his contributions to his home district Angul in the last 10 years.
Countering the ‘false transformation narrative’ charge of Pradhan against the state government at a media conference here, national spokesperson of BJD and Rajya Sabha MP Sasmit Patra said the contribution of the former to the state is a big zero despite him being the Union minister for 10 years.
“Leave the state, will he (Pradhan) give an account of what he has done for his own area. The Union minister has now taken umbrage under falsehood to cover up his failure. It is not expected from him,” he added.
Patra asserted Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY) is considered the best health scheme of the country as it provides health benefits of up to Rs 10 lakh for women and Rs 5 lakh for men annually. No other state has such flagship health scheme for their people.
Accusing Pradhan of conspiring to derail the scheme, Patra dared Pradhan to promise in BJP’s manifesto that the programme will be scrapped if the party came to power in the state.
“Why is Pradhan so worried when people of the state are availing health services free of cost? If he thinks the BSKY scheme is bad for the people, he must ensure its scrapping is mentioned on the top of his party’s election manifesto.People will give a befitting reply to him in this election,” Patra said.
He further asked the Union minister to explain to people why the expansion of NH-55 which passes through his district has remained incomplete.
People are facing hardships while travelling on the highway and hundreds of lives are lost every year in accidents. Requesting Pradhan to refrain from giving misleading information to public, Patra advised him not to be a laughing stock.