The Opposition Congress and BJP on Thursday came down heavily on the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD Government for Posco's decision to exit from Odisha. Briefing mediapersons here, Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Prasad Harichandan dubbed the State Government as incompetent for creating a smooth process and good atmosphere for development of industries.
He said big industrial houses like the Arcelor Mittal left Odisha due to the State Government's fault. Even the Jindal company has stopped production in one of its plants due to faulty Government policy. "The State Government has displaced hundreds of families and destroyed their livelihoods by dismantling betel vineyards and acquiring farmlands at the proposed Posco site, but at the end it failed miserably," he alleged.
Prasad finally held the Chief Minister and his Government responsible for the Posco's withdrawal plan. "The Government is trying to hoodwink the people in the name of industrialisation," he said.
BJP leader Suresh Pujari said the State has lost a big Posco FDI project due to lack of vision. Neither the State Government completed the land acquisition process early nor did it please the project-affected people with fair compensation. The project didn't take off even at the beginning, he added. "The Chief Minister didn't pay a single visit to the Posco site in the last 10 years at least to listen to what the displaced people wanted. Popular agitation continued for a long time in the project area," he said.