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Barely a day after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lashed out at the Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government for its 'lacklustre' performance in last one year, the ruling party today came under attack from the Congress.
The principal opposition party accused the government of managing the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) which is probing the mega chit fund scam in the state.
"The single biggest achievement of Naveen Patnaik government in 2014-15 is that they have successfully managed the CBI which was probing the involvement of many ruling party legislators and MPs, of whom few have already been arrested. It has struck a deal with the BJP government at the Centre. The list of state government's failure is long," said Prasad Harichandan, president, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) while summing up last one year's performance of the BJD government at a press meet here.
BJD government will complete one year in office on Thursday after being voted to power for fourth consecutive term in last May.
Ridiculing the state government's claim of branding Odisha as the most favoured investment destination in the country, the Congress leader said," The government has signed MoUs with more than 125 companies including 92 pacts in the industrial sector. However, only 40 companies have moved ahead with their proposals and the rest have not turned up."
On the status of various big ticket projects, he drew a metaphor with the punctuation marks in English grammar and said, "Jindal is a coma, Mittal a full stop and Posco has become a question mark."
It may be noted, while Naveen Jindal controlled Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL) has started partial production in Angul, steel baron Lakshmi Mittal-headed ArcelorMittal has scrapped its Rs 40,000 crore steel project in the state.
The fate of South Korean steel major Posco's proposed steel plant, billed as largest foreign direct investment in India, is still hanging in balance.
The Congress also slammed the government for failing to collect the Rs 67,000 crore penalties imposed on the erring miners.
"Not a single penny has been realized from the miners involved in illegal mining," he added.
Harichandan targeted Patnaik for not being able to speak the Odia language.
Reacting to allegations of managing the CBI, Sashi Bhushan Behera, BJD spokesperson, said, "Such an allegation (of managing the agency) is imaginary.
