Bhubaneswar: Strongly criticizing the BJP government and its first budget, Leader of Opposition and BJD President Naveen Patnaik today said that the BJP government has brought a Name Change budget instead of a Game Change budget.
While participating in the general discussion of the budget for the year 2024-25, Naveen said congratulations to the new government on presenting its first budget and a special congratulation for repeating more than 80% of the schemes implemented by BJD government.
More than 80% of the budget allocation flows towards the schemes formulated by the BJD government, he said.
“BJP formed a government by promising people that they will bring ‘Paribartan’: After going through the budget documents, I see ‘Paribartan’ or ‘Change’ – This government has changed the names of 45 schemes. BJP said their government will be a Game Changer but unfortunately has ended up being a ‘Name Changer’,” the former CM said
He said that 80% of BJD government’s schemes have been repeated. It shows the robustness, pro-people and progressive character of the schemes designed and implemented by the BJD government. The remaining 20% resource allocation is what they will use to implement their manifesto promises to the people of Odisha.
“We have circulated a copy of the BJP manifesto for ready reference. I will talk about 3 to 4 promises, sorry guarantees, out of many that they have made,” Shri Patnaik said.
The BJP manifesto promised Rs 50,000 to every woman of Odisha under the Subhadra scheme. More than 2 crore women are there in Odisha. Further, this was promised to be given in two years. At least Rs 1 lakh crore will be needed to fulfill this promise. However, the government has made provision of only Rs 10,000 crore in this budget, he pointed out.
This will cover less than ten percent women of Odisha. What about the rest one crore eighty lakh women?, he asked.
Similarly, the BJP has promised to increase pension to Rs 3,500 per month. There are about 50 lakh pensioners in the State, out of which hardly one lakh pensioners will benefit as per the budget allocation.
“You have mentioned in your budget that senior citizens over eighty years of age and persons with eighty percent or more disability will get the enhanced pension amount. What will happen to the rest 49 lakh pensioners between 60 to 80 years of age including widows, PWDs and distressed people?” he again asked the BJP government.
The state will need about Rs 21,000 crore per year to fulfill this promise.
The Leader of Opposition further said that the BJP had promised Rs 3,100 per quintal MSP for farmers. The allocation kept in the budget will not be adequate to cover even 30 percent farmers. How does the government plan to cover the remaining lakhs of farmers of Odisha?
BJP promised three hundred units of free electricity in campaign speeches. The central government has planned free electricity for one crore houses for the whole country.
Stating that Odisha’s share may be three lakh houses against 1.5 crore houses in the state, Patnaik asked, “Is this the free electricity you promised to the people?”
He challenged that in the next five years BJP won’t be able to cover even five percent of Odisha’s population under three hundred units of free electricity.
“The way you projected the scheme in social media – people have been waiting for zero electricity bill from July. I am sorry, you have cheated the people of Odisha,” Patnaik alleged.
BJP has promised 25 lakh Lakhpati Didis by 2027 – in three years. To fulfill this promise, the state will need about Rs 20,000 crore. But, the state has allocated only Rs 1,000 crore for this, he pointed out.
Shri Patnaik demanded the government to put the list of Lakhpati Didis in the house with all details.
“You promised a developed Odisha by the year 2036. I’ll give one example of your vision for a developed Odisha. The budget document provides Rs 20 crore for the industrial corridor connecting Rourkela Sambalpur Paradip and Dhama by June 2027. A corridor like this will not cost less than Rs 1 lakh crore,” he noted.
Slamming the BJP government, Shri Patnaik said, “Your party is known for “Jumla”, but this is a cruel Joke on the people of Odisha to whom you gave the dream of a developed Odisha.”
These are some of the major promises BJP made to win the elections. If the government doesn’t fulfill the promises made to the people, the BJP manifesto and acclaimed guarantee will be a bunch of lies, he added.
He prayed that people don’t think that the BJP won the election through lies and false dreams, which will not be good for the State and its people.