Odisha: Oppn Targets BJP Govt over Polavaram Issue

Bhubaneswar: Opposition Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Congress on Tuesday came down heavily on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party over the Budget speech of the Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman in which she asserted that the government is committed to the financing and early completion of the Polavaram irrigation project.

“Our government is fully committed to financing and early completion of the Polavaram Irrigation Project, which is the lifeline for Andhra Pradesh and its farmers,” the Finance Minister said.

Opposition BJD and Congress leaders termed the statement as a “betrayal” of the people of Odisha and the interests of Odisha.

Terming the decision on Polavram partisan, senior BJD leader Prasanna Acharya said that the Union government took the decision out of its political compulsions.

“As the Union government survives with the support of other parties, it is acting against the interests of a state like Odisha to please them,” he said.

He said the former Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and the Odisha government in the past had expressed their views against the project. The members of BJD had also repeatedly raised the issue in both houses of the parliament.

The state government had repeatedly requested the Union government to at least consider the interest of Odisha in the Polavaram project issue. He accused the Union government of ignoring the requests of the Odisha government.

“The special provision made in the Budget for the completion of the Polavaram project is a big blow to the interests of Odisha,” added Acharya.

He alleged that the BJP has been hampering the integrity of and sowing animosity between the states.

Congress leader Sofia Firdous alleged that several villages in Odisha are submerged and thousands will get displaced to the Polavaram project. She alleged that the people of Odisha were betrayed by the BJP government.

Notably, Odisha has been apprehensive about the project which it claims would result in the submergence of a large number of villages including protected tribal areas in Malkangiri district bordering Andhra Pradesh.

–IANS