‘Naveen’s Surat visit politically motivated’

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Bhubaneswar: On a day when Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik landed in Gujarat to meet the Odia community there, his Gujarat counterpart Vijay Rupani saw politics in Naveen’s visit as the state goes for assembly polls next year.
“The Chief Minister is remembering about the people of Odisha staying in Gujarat 19 years after being in power. Gujarat is not going to poll but Odisha is heading for assembly elections,” Rupani said while addressing media persons here.
Targeting Naveen for not opting for the Ayushman Bharat and rolling out Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana, Rupani said by doing so, Patnaik deprived the healthcare benefits to his people staying outside of the state.
“The benefits of the state-sponsored schemes cannot be availed beyond the state limits while one can avail the benefits of Ayushman Bharat in any place across the nation,” he said.
Seeking to remind the state government that they were equally concerned about the wellbeing of Odia-speaking people in Gujarat, Rupani said the BJP government in the state provided them with good homes under the Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana and Mukhya Mantri Awaas Yojana. The migrants, he said, were residing in thatched houses when they had arrived. However, the Gujarat Chief Minister did not respond to a question on alleged misbehavior to Odia community in Surat by the Gujarat Police.
The BJP leader also racked up the chit fund scam, saying, “I have received a complaint that Odia people are toiling hard and investing their hard earned money in chit fund companies here.”
Asked about allotment of one acre of land for establishment of a community centre for Odias, he said, “I am yet to receive the letter written by Odisha CM.” The Gujarat CM even did not make any assurance in this regard.
Gujarat is home to over seven lakh Odias and Patnaik’s visit there has been criticised by the Opposition as an attempt to play politics ahead of the assembly elections.
BJD spokesperson Pratap Deb said, “If the Gujarat CM has received complaints on chit fund scam, what he was doing till date? How many FIRs have been lodged against the accused and what action has Rupani taken on the chit fund firms operating in Surat?”
Deb said BJP is scared of BJD president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s Gujarat visit. The presence of Gujarat Chief Minister in Odisha is a clear-cut example of it, he added.