Bhubaneswar: Even though both BJD and BJP are on warpath against each other in the ensuing election in the state, senior Congress leader and former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh said both BJD and BJP are two sides of same coin and indulge in fake fighting for the election.
Addressing a press conference here, Shri Jairam said the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik playing at the election time as “fake boxing match. The alternative to both the BJD and BJP in the State is Congress, he said.
Alleging both BJD & BJP are anti-farmer and anti-tribals, the Congress leader said the Prime Minister is lying about his party’s relationship with BJD. In the last 10 years, BJD MPs in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha have bailed out the Modi Government on every contentious bills including no-confidence motion.
The BJP in return has spared the BJD all the bullying and intimidation. There has been no onslaught of ED and CBI raids, he stated.
The BJD MPs supported “anti-farmer, anti-tribal and anti-environment” Bills in both houses of Parliament and even the ruling party in Odisha elected BJP nominee Ashwini Vaishnaw in Rajya Sabha polls, he said.
Hitting out at Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, he said, “Did you not extend 100 per cent support to the BJP in Delhi? Is it not true that the BJD supported the weakening of the Forest Rights Act, amendment in the Forest Conservation Act, Land Acquisition Act, and the Labour Code?”
“There is no difference between the BJP and BJD. Congress is the only alternative in Odisha that is fighting against the BJP-BJD ‘alliance’. Voting for BJP is like voting for BJD and vice-versa,” Ramesh alleged.
The Congress leader alleged that not a single penny has been spent on the development of Odia during the Modi rule, while Rs 650 crore has been allocated for Sanskrit, whereas the Manmohan Singh government had given classical language status to six languages including Odia.
Advocating for a caste-based census, Ramesh said the exercise is necessary to give proper reservation to the SC, ST and backward communities. He asked Patnaik to clarify whether he was in support of it.
Asserting that the Congress is in favour of extending the 50 per cent cap on reservations, Ramesh asked the CM to clarify his stand on the issue.
“Why have you (Patnaik) not fully implemented the Forest Rights Act and Panchayats Extension to Scheduled Areas (PESA) Rules in Odisha?” the former Union minister questioned.
With four phases of elections concluded, voting for 379 seats is over. In these phases, Ramesh said the BJP is continuing towards downward trajectory and predicted that in four phases of election which was conducted, the INDIA bloc has attained a majority of seats.
On the ongoing Lok Sabha poll he said, the BJP will become Saaf (finish) in south and half in north, west and east. adding the INDIA bloc is going to form the Government at the centre after seven phases of elections are over.
Congress has given five Nyay and 25 Guarantees. The five Nyays are Yuva Nyay, Nari Nyay, Kissam Nyay,Shramik Nyay and Hissedari Nyay. The Bharti Bharosa scheme is to fill 30 lakhs post in the government, he pointed out.
Ramesh termed the last 10 years of Modi Government as the period of injustice for farmers, youths, women and other sections of the society.
He said that the Prime Minister is hoodwinking the people in the name of Hindu-Muslim sentiment, Mangalsutras. If congress voted to power it will remove the unemployment and will increase the MSP on paddy and other crops.
Why is CBI and ED not coming to Odisha where there are multiple scams like mining, land scams and other scams in last 24 years of BJD rule?, he asked.