BJD praises BJP govt at Centre for its support to tackle Fani

The Biju Janata Dal government in Odisha on Monday praised the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre for its support to tackle cyclone Fani that killed at least 64 people and rendered over five lakh families homeless.

The ruling BJD, which all along during campaigning for the Lok Sabha and state Assembly polls accused the BJP of "ignoring" the interest of Odisha, was now all praise for the Central government.

"At the outset. I would like to thank the Union Government for the support rendered to the state of Odisha to effectively manage the extremely severe cyclone Fani and its aftermath," Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said in a letter to Prime Minister Narendrea Modi while seeking five lakh houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) for the cyclone-hit state.

The Chief Minister's Office (CMO) also thanked Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan for sanctioning 1,000 kilolitre of kerosene for distribution among the cyclone affected people.

Pradhan made the sanction a day after Patnaik wrote a letter to him seeking sanction of 1,000 kl of kerosene for the cyclone affected people.

"Thank Union Minister Sri@dpradhanbjp for considering our request to provide 1,000 kl of kerosene oil free of cost to #CycloneFani ravaged #Odisha. It would help meet the immediate demand of kerosene oil for lighting purpose," the CMO Odisha said in its twitter post.

Earlier, Prime Minister Modi during his visit to Odisha on May 6, had also openly showered praise on Patnaik and said: "Naveen Babu has done a good job in evacuating people to safe place."