BJD’s five posers to Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on development claims

BHUBANESWAR:  Alleging that the account of four year achievement of Narendra Modi Government at the Centre given by Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan has avoided the failures and is not based on truth, the BJD on Friday posed five questions relating to the interest of the State.

Addressing a media conference here, Rajya Sabha member and BJD spokesperson Pratap Deb, Health and Family Welfare Minister Pratap Jena and BJD general secretary Sanjay Dasburma asked the Union Minister to make the stand of the Centre clear on granting  special category state status to Odisha. The BJD leaders also asked Pradhan to arrange a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi for discussion on the demand for a hike in the minimum support price (MSP) for paddy.

Stating that including Odisha in the industry corridor was another major demand of the State Government, the BJD leaders requested the Union Minister to make efforts in this regard. The BJD leaders asked Pradhan questions on Mahanadi river water dispute with Chattisgarh. Besides, they demanded that he should bring down the price on petrol and diesel to give relief to the people.

Stating that the claim of the Union Minister that Odisha has created a record by completing construction of 5499 km long highway in four years is erroneous, Dasburma said 1058 km of highway was constructed during four year with government of Odisha participation while Centre constructed only 254 km of the highway. The Centre is yet to approve proposal of the State Government for construction of 120 km NH 5 bypass submitted in 2015, he said and added that survey for construction of 250 km outer ring road to connect seven districts is yet to be started. Besides, no steps have been taken to start construction of Gopalpur-Digha coastal highway which was announced in 2015, he said.
Former minister Arun Sahu, party spokesperson Sasmit Patra and state secretary Bijay Nayak were also present.