BJD demands homes promised to poor under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana

BHUBANESWAR: The women’s wing of BJD staged a protest against the Centre in front of Governor House here on Tuesday demanding the immediate allotment of houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY).
Holding placards that denounced the Centre with slogans like the ‘Union government has lied to Odisha and betrayed its people by stopping the scheme for over three years, the protesters also took out a rally in the city.
“The Centre had promised to give 15 lakh houses to the poor in Odisha but it has not kept it’s commitment. It has shown a biased attitude by closing the registration portal of PMAY in Odisha and keeping it open for the BJP-ruled states,” BJD MP Sulata Deo claimed. She added, “The people of Odisha put faith in the eight BJP MPs from the state to stand up for them in New Delhi and fight for their rights, but instead those lawmakers are trying to snatch their rights. They have met Union minister Giriraj Singh and urged him to stop the scheme.”
Countering the allegations, the BJP said that the women’s wing members should stop spreading lies.
Addressing a press conference here, the national vice-president of the Bharatiya Yuva Morcha, Sushree Arpita Aparajita Badajena, said, “The women leaders of BJD, especially those from the world of showbusiness, consider a soap opera to be a news programme and a news programme to be a soap opera and this is obvious. The BJD loves drama, which the BJP can’t do. The allegations of minister Dibya Shankar Mishra being involved in Mamita’s murder, Samir Dashs in Dharmendra Sahoo’s murder, Arun Sahoo in Pari’s murder and former minister Pratap Jena in Mahanga’s quadruple murder was not true. Was that a drama or a soap opera?”