Bhubaneswar: The Governing Biju Janata Dal (BJD), which is now in no mood to lose a chance to attack the BJP, has lined up several issues of Odisha which are pending with the BJP-led Union Government for the upcoming Budget Session of Parliament.
BJD Parliamentary Party meeting was held here under the chairmanship of Party President and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday.
At that meeting, the party prepared its strategy to attack the Centre inside the Parliament.
The Chief Minister asked the party MPs to give a strong response to the false propaganda made by BJP leaders at various times hampering development of the state.
The BJD MPs would raise key issues like the demand for special state status to Odisha, provision of houses to all beneficiaries of the state under PMAY and inclusion of 169 communities as scheduled tribes and passage of Women’s Reservation Bill during the Budget session.
The Governing party is also likely to press for special assistance for permanent resolution of the natural calamities, inclusion of non-violence in the preamble of the Constitution and issues related to farmers welfare and agriculture.
Senior BJD MP Pinaki Misra said, “Discontinue of the 5 kg free rice by the Centre has affected the people from the most marginalised section of our society. As the Centre will spend a very minimal fund of about Rs 8,000 to 9,000 crore on the scheme, we will demand for restart of the scheme.”
He demanded that the scheme should be immediately restarted as its stopping will adversely affect the food security of crores of poor people not only in Odisha but also across India. It has an adverse impact on paddy procurement too, Misra said.
The Chief Minister has asked all the MPs to give more emphasis on passing of a Women Reservation Bill in the Parliament. He has directed to create a pressure group in Delhi including MPs from other parties like TMC and DMK, who have supported the move of BJD, to put pressure on the Centre for introduction of the bill, the BJD leader said.
The BJD has also decided to raise non-sanction of around 4 lakh houses for Odisha under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY). “Due to political reasons, the Centre has cut down about 4 lakh PMAY houses for Odisha,” he alleged.
The party would also raise the demand for inclusion of 169 communities in the ST list of Odisha.