Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader V.K. Pandian said on Tuesday that the BJP had scored "nine self-goals" in Odisha, where the Lok Sabha and assembly elections are being held simultaneously. At a press conference in Odisha's Bhubaneswar, he said the "self-goals" include "dragging Lord Mahaprabhu Jagannath into the political discourse”.
The IAS-officer-turned-politician also took a jibe at the BJP’s proposed Subhadra Yojana, under which the latter has promised women a cash voucher of Rs 50,000 if it's voted to office. Calling it “yet another jumla”, he said, “They have said that, for every woman, they will give Rs 50,000 voucher… which will cost Rs 1 lakh crore in Odisha… the developmental budget of Odisha is Rs 20,000-25,000 crore, so from where they will get this?”
People of Odisha, he added, "know... very well… this is one more jumla, like the Rs 15 lakh in everyone’s account that was promised in 2014…”
Pandian also said the BJP will close several development schemes launched by Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who is seeking a sixth term in office, if it manages to form the government in the state.
“The Chief Minister (Naveen Patnaik) introduced 5T (teamwork, technology, transparency, transformation and time limit) school transformation, college transformation, university and technical institutions transformation, and NUA-O scholarships.”
Ninety-eight percent of students in Odisha, he added, get NUA-O scholarships. "BJP has never promised any scholarships and they have said that they will close all these schemes. They are not convinced by these schemes. Imagine the plight of the students… 5-6 lakh students get these scholarships…”
He also attacked the BJP’s promised subsidy for solar panel installation that seeks to allow scheme participants certain units of free electricity. “They had introduced LPG cylinders free of cost and they started increasing the cost,” he added, referring to the central government's Ujjwala scheme.
The former IAS officer also accused BJP politicians of “using abusive language against the most popular CM of the country”.
Meanwhile, in a recent interview with ANI, Prime Minister Narendra Modi blamed the BJD government in Odisha for the "state’s poverty despite a wealth of natural resources”. He said, “Odisha has so many natural resources. To see poor people in such a wealthy state is saddening. Odisha is one of the richest Indian states as there are so many natural resources here. It is also one of the poorest Indian states. For this, the government is responsible.”