BHUBANESWAR: The BJP on Sunday came down heavily on the previous BJD government for not taking any step for establishment of a permanent bench of the Orissa High Court in western Odisha during the last 24 years.
BJP spokesperson Manoj Mohapatra said at least five Union Law ministers of the UPA and NDA governments had asked the Naveen Patnaik government at different times to inform where the permanent bench will be set up. But, the former chief minister had not responded to their requests, he said.
Referring to a statement of BJD spokesperson Sasmit Patra on Saturday that Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi had made a U-turn on the issue during the budget session of the Assembly, Mohapatra said that the previous government had never acted in the interest of people of western Odisha.
During its tenure, the BJD failed to shift the headquarters of the Western Odisha Development Council (WODC) to a place in western Odisha from Bhubaneswar. The former chief minister had backtracked on several promises including opening of a second campus of the Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology in a KBK districts and announcement of bonus of Rs 100 per quintal of paddy, he said.