Bhubaneswar, June 21 (UNI) The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Saturday alleged that the so-called “double-engine” government of the BJP in Odisha has turned out to be a “double deception” for the people of the state, claiming that promises made during the election campaign have proven hollow.
Responding to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s speech and the release of the Odisha Vision Document on Friday, BJD leaders told a press conference that the central grant to Odisha for the financial year 2024–25 has been slashed by 18.19 per cent compared to the previous year. “This reduction has completely exposed the BJP’s much-hyped ‘double-engine, double-development’ slogan as a blatant lie,” they said.
Senior BJD leader and political affairs committee member Sanjay Kumar Das Burma alleged that development projects initiated by the Naveen Patnaik-led state government—particularly those concerning the Puri temple and pilgrimage infrastructure—have been stalled by the BJP government.
Das Burma pointed out that in the previous budget, the central government had announced the development of 12 cities as industrial hubs across India. “Shockingly, not a single city from Odisha—a state that holds 40 per cent of the country’s total mineral resources—was included in the list,” he added.
“There has been a steep rise in incidents of rape, kidnapping, murder, and atrocities against women. On average, 15 women are raped every day in the state,” they said.
Citing a government white paper, they noted that cases of rape have increased by around eight percent. They also referred to a recent report which ranked Odisha eighth among the most crime-prone states in India. “Notably, eight of the top 10 crime-prone states are governed by the BJP,” the leaders pointed out.
The BJD leaders further accused the BJP government of halting several tribal development programmes initiated by the previous state government. They stated that the Special Development Council (SDC), established by the BJD to protect and promote tribal communities, has now been dismantled.
Baxipatra also alleged that the state BJP government failed to present the actual ground reality of Odisha to the Prime Minister. “Odisha, which was once projected as a hub of development, is now grappling with outbreaks of cholera and diarrhoea—diseases that had not resurfaced in the state for over four decades,” he said. He also criticised the Odisha Vision Document unveiled by the Prime Minister, which targets a 9 per cent growth rate for the state, while other states have been projected to achieve a 15 per cent growth rate.
