BHUBANESWAR/JAGATSINGHPUR : SENIOR BJP leader and former chief minister of Madhya Pradesh Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Tuesday targeted Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for outsourcing his government to a handful of bureaucrats.
Launching a scathing attack on the BJD government after his arrival here on a day’s visit to the state, Chouhan told reporters that it is not the chief minister but a few officers who are running the government. Corruption is rampant as there is no control over the bureaucrats and there has been a rise in atrocities against women in the state where they do not feel safe. Women are being exploited in the name of empowerment and they have been used as a vote bank, he said.
“It is a matter of shame beneficiaries of toilets under Swachh Bharat Mission have to pay money for sanction of toilets and similar corruption has been reported from other welfare schemes of the Narendra Modi government,” Chouhan added.
Accusing the state government of ‘re-branding’ all Central schemes and misleading people ,the BJP veteran told a meeting in Jagatsignhpur that the Modi government has been providing large amount of funds under different schemes but the BJD government is appropriating all schemes with a local brand. He said the people of the state have come to know about this and they will give a fitting reply in the coming elections.
He said the popularity of Narendra Modi is very high in the state which is going to have simultaneous polls to Assembly and Lok Sabha. The BJP will not only win more Lok Sabha seats in Odisha but will form the next government, he asserted.
Responding to the alleged understanding between BJD and the BJP, Chouhan said, “We will fight against the BJD with full force and win both elections as well.” Chouhan interacted with party workers at Jagatsinghpur and advised them to engage in door-to-door campaigns to educate people about central schemes. The meeting was attended by BJP state general secretary Jatin Mohanty, district BJP president Satyabrat Mohapatra, former MP Bibhu Prasad Tarai, Pabitra Mohan Das along with other BJP leaders including Pravati Parida, Krishna Mohanty, Rabi Mallick, and Sampad Swain.