Naveen targets NDA govt over GST and demonetisation

BHUBANESWAR: Chief minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday targeted the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre for allegedly working for the interests of the rich.


He criticized the Narendra Modi government on demonetisation and the Goods and Services Tax (GST), though he had extended support to the Centre on both these issues. “The BJP is a party of rich people. It has been working for them. It has focused on the interests of the rich by moves like GST and demonetisation. The poor have got poorer while demonetisation snatched the jobs of youths. This is the reason why BJP is losing everywhere,” Naveen said at political rallies in Salipur and Mahanga constituencies under the Kendrapada parliamentary segment, on the day Prime Minister Narendra Modi also visited the

Lok Sabha

seat.

The chief minister’s tirade against the Centre came hours after Modi criticized him over political violence in the state and said people had made up their mind to opt for BJP governments at the state and the Centre.

The BJD has pitted cine star and Rajya Sabha member Anubhav Mohanty in Kendrapada against Baijayant Panda, who resigned from the party last year and joined BJP recently. The Congress has fielded lawyer-politician Dharanidhar Nayak in the Kendrapada Lok Sabha seat.

Earlier, while addressing a meeting in the Bhadrak parliamentary constituency, Naveen targeted BJP over the vaunted

Gujarat

model of development. “Despite huge publicity about the Gujarat model, BJP managed to barely scrape through the 2017 assembly elections. The government at the Centre has lost the faith of the common man. Farmers, youth, women, the poor and the SCs/STs are fed up with it,” he said.

Taking a dig at Modi’s double-engine theory (referring to BJP governments both at the Centre and the state), Naveen asked why had people rejected the same in the

Hindi

heartland. “Why have people rejected the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Punjab? It will face a defeat in the entire country this time,” he said.

Banking heavily on Kalia — a direct cash assistance scheme for farmers — Naveen reiterated that the Centre was plotting to derail the scheme. “Over 40 lakh families have benefited under Kalia. The BJP government at the Centre is trying to derail the scheme but no one can stop it till I am alive,” said Naveen, adding that all eligible farmers would get two instalments of financial assistance at one go on the first day he forms government again.