Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader and West Bengal Water Resources Minister Soumen Mahapatra on Monday accused the BJD Government of being “neck-deep in corruption” and urged the people of Odisha to vote for the TMC’s five lok Sabha and 31 Assembly candidates in the State.
“The BJD regime’s corruption has engulfed Odisha. The MB Shah Commission’s report has mentioned mining scam to the tune of Rs60,000 crore,” Mahapatra told reporters here.
“Besides the mining and other scams, the State has suffered from misrule for the last 14 years as all promises on development turned out to be hollow. Despite the BJD Government’s claim of being clean, its 14-year rule has become a dark chapter in Odisha’s history as mine mafias are controlling the political leaders,” he said.
Charging the BJD with being in power in Odisha for a third term by making false promises, Mahapatra said farmers in the State are hit hard as only eight per cent of the land could be irrigated in the last 14 years and not a single cold storage has been constructed by the Government.
The BJD in the 2009 elections had promised to provide employment to 15 lakh youths, but people are yet to know whether 15,000 persons have been given jobs, he said.
Ridiculing the Naveen Patnaik Government’s claims about all-round progress and development, Mahapatra sought to know why Odisha has had the dubious distinction of occupying the number one position in the list of the country’s most backward States. Due to acute unemployment, thousands of people move out of Odisha in search of jobs elsewhere, he
pointed out.
Hitting out at the Congress, Mahapatra said corruption is rampant during the BJD rule as the State’s main Opposition party failed to discharge
its duty. TMC State convenor Aryakumar Jnanendra was present at the Press conference.