By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, March 1, 2015 :

The ruling Biju Janata Dal [BJD] on Sunday announced it would hold protest rallies across the state against Narendra Modi led NDA government at the centre for not granting a special package or separate allocation of Lord Jagannath’s Nabakalebar festival.

Senior BJD leader and state food supplies minister Sanjaya Das Burma told reporters here that the state had demanded special allocation for backward regions and Nabakalebara festival. However, all these demands have been overlooked in the Budget.

“We are forced to draw the impression that the Narendra Modi government, like the previous UPA government, is also meting out discriminatory behavior towards Odisha. The BJD, as a regional party, would not tolerate it,” Mr Das Burma said.

He said the BJD would launch its series of protest programmes with rally in front of the Raj Bhawan here on Monday.

“We will hold a protest rally in front of the Raj Bhawan on Monday. Later, we will organize similar rallies in all the district headquarters. A decision on this will be taken on March 10,” said the BJD leader.

Senior BJP leader and union petroleum and natural gas minister Dharmendra Pradhan dismissed the BJD allegation and said the Budget had many provisions take care of people of all segments.

“The union budget 2015-16 is going to be written in golden letters as it takes care of all sections of the society.  The number of social security measures announced in the Budget is unprecedented. Besides, it has made sufficient allocations for infrastructure, health, human resources and education sectors,” Mr Pradhan said.