Rahul to Odisha: BJD looting you, making mining mafia rich

A day after Rahul Gandhi hit out at Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi, the Congress Vice President targeted Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and accused him of looting people’s money. Rahul said that the Odisha government was not letting the benefits of central government schemes trickle down to the people. [caption id=“attachment_1379293” align=“alignright” width=“380”]  Rahul Gandhi. PTI[/caption] Rahul, who is in Bhubaneswar for a two-day rally, said that the Centre allocates funds to the state for development, but that fund was being diverted for other uses. “Odisha says Centre doesn’t send money for the state. But no government has allotted as much money as we did to Odisha in five years. The government funds meant for mid-day scheme has been stolen by the Biju Janta Dal government,” he said. He said that the money that the Centre is sending is being used to make mining mafias rich. “Odisha is the richest state, but people are poor because of the government,” he said. The Congress leader added that the Odisha government was not bringing about development in the state. “School and hospitals are closed there are no teachers and doctors. The state goverment takes the money from the people but does not utisilise them for their development”. “There are 10,000 youth who are not employed in this state,” he said. In an attempt to come back to power in the state after a long gap of 14 years, Rahul said, “Throw BJD out of the state in the coming assembly elections. MGNREGA is not implemented properly in the state.” “We have fought the battle for tribal, ensured that they get their land back. We will fight for the rights of the poor”. Following Rahul’s speech, the BJD reacted sharply saying that he is just parroting what the Congress senior leaders have taught him.