Congress reminds BJP govt in Odisha of 'unfulfilled' promises on its first anniversary

New Delhi: The Congress on Monday alleged that the BJP has failed to fulfil its poll promises made to the people of Odisha and that its 'double engine' government has "looted" the state and played with its identity.

As the BJP government in Odisha completed its one year on June 12, the opposition party said it had no right to celebrate when under its rule the "public is troubled, farmers are in distress and there is unemployment in the state".

Addressing a press conference at the Congress' Indira Bhawan headquarters here, Odisha Congress chief Bhakta Charan Das said the country is going through a difficult time these days with many incidents happening, and Odisha is also facing many calamities.

"At such a time, people are expecting the state and central governments to support them, but both governments are busy celebrating. The BJP government of Odisha had made some promises to the people before the elections, which we want to remind them, like -- zero tolerance for corruption," he said.

Das claimed that the truth is that many cases of corruption have come to light in the recent past.

"A chief engineer was found to have many properties and crores of rupees. An ED officer was caught by the CBI. An IAS officer was caught, and cash worth lakhs was recovered. The question is where did this money come from?" Das said.

"The BJP government had said that under the Subhadra scheme, women will be given Rs 50,000, which they can spend in two years, but the truth is that the government is giving only Rs 5,000 in two installments," he claimed.

The country is immersed in grief and the BJP government in Odisha is celebrating from June 12 to June 20, he said.

"The condition of health facilities in Odisha is worse, posts are lying vacant in almost all the districts of the state, there is not even one doctor for a population of 12,000, Ayushman cards are being rejected in many hospitals of the state and people are forced to get treatment in private hospitals," Das said.

Congress Legislature Party leader in Odisha Ram Chandra Kadam drew attention to the promises made by the BJP to the tribal people.

"The BJP had made a promise regarding the PESA Act, but the truth is that the houses of tribal people were demolished. In tribal areas, they are being harassed to grab water, forest and land," he said.

"The BJP had promised to make Asha workers permanent, give Rs 12,000 to Anganwadi workers and give electric scooters to girl students, but these promises had not been fulfilled till date," he said.

Congress' AICC in-charge of Odisha Ajay Kumar Lallu said the BJP's 'double engine' government has played with the identity of Odisha and "looted it".

"This government only lies to the people, it does not do a single work," he said.