The BJP is committed to the existing reservation policy asserted BJP president Amit Shah while denouncing a malicious campaign on social media platforms alleging that the BJP wants to change or end the reservation policy.

Addressing at the district headquarter of Kalahandi district, Shah said his party will not allow any change to the quota system. The Constitutional provisions as written by B R Ambedkar will remain, he said.

Advertisement

He blamed the Opposition parties for the death of 10 persons during the Bharat Bandh by dalits. What was the need for a Bharat Bandh when the central government had announced that it will file a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the previous order of the court, he remarked.

Shah called upon people to beware of mischief mongers who want to derail the ‘vikas’ of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The BJP president said 20 states are ruled by the BJP and Karnataka will be the 21st state to have a BJP government.

Each state has joined the development agenda of Modiji and will progress , Odisha too should elect a BJP government to ensure development. The BJP president tore in to the Naveen Patnaik government by reeling out figures of central allocations and the lack of development in Odisha.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik does not have the capacity to spend the crores that are sent by the centre, he charged. People of Odisha are suffering because of the ineffective and inefficient government, he said while calling for a change.

Thirty-six per cent of the villages are deprived of electricity and 50 per cent of the poor do not have pucca houses. Several villages do not have potable drinking water source.

The Modi government has promised to provide electricity to all households by 2021, drinking water and pucca houses to all by 2022, he noted. Reeling out figures, he said 40 per cent of children in Odisha are malnourished.

The youth and labor force migrate to other states for work. The BJP will provide a government that will ensure that the labour and youth stay in the state and contribute to the development of the state, he said.

If Naveen Patnaik has not been able to provide basic needs to the people after being in power for 18 years, he should quit, quipped Shah. Shah highlighted the health insurance scheme, the revision of MSP and other central schemes.

Odisha has got over Rs 2 lakh crore by way of finance commission allocations and another additional Rs 45,000 crore he said. Union Ministers Jual Oram and Dharmendra Pradhan addressed the public meeting.

Pradhan described the Naveen Patnaik government as corrupt and inefficient. He said for the proposed Narla wagon factory is this region, the state government has not been providing land and water source.

The Odisha government never made any request to the centre for a medical college hospital in Kalahandi, he charged while taking a dig at the government for signing an MoU with Vedanta company for such a project recently.

Oram in his speech alleged that tribal development funds remain unused and in certain cases diverted. Shah is scheduled to hold a meeting with state party leaders, stay overnight here before leaving for Bolangir district tomorrow.