BHUBANESWAR : The BJD on Monday stepped up its attack on Dharmendra Pradhan and stated that he had failed to work for Odisha as a Union minister.
Addressing mediapersons here, BJD Rajya Sabha MP Sasmit Patra alleged that though people of Sambalpur and Dhenkanal districts have been repeatedly raising the issue of national highway no-55 and how precious lives are being lost due to its very precarious condition, he refuses to address or speak on it.
“Now that he is contesting from the Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat, how he will face the families who have lost their loved ones due to accidents,” he questioned.
Patra stated that as the Union minister for education and skill development, Pradhan had not established even a single Kendriya Vidyalaya nor a central skill development centre in Dhenkanal, Angul and Deogarh districts. “He has not been able to facilitate a single smart classroom in his village. That is why the BJP lost in the panchayat elections in his own village,” Patra said. The national BJD spokesperson said, on the other hand, the BJD government has transformed high school education through smart classrooms, digital libraries and state-of-the-art infrastructure through the 5T initiative.
Stating that Pradhan is unable to see all these transformation, Patra said the Union minister was actually aggrieved that Odisha was given the ‘award of excellence’ under the 5T initiative ‘Drink from Tap Mission’.