By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, January 23, 2016 : The ruling Biju Janata Dal [BJD] in Odisha took strong exception to the manner in which the Indian Oil Corporation Ltd’s [IOCL] resources are issued by the Bharatiya Janata Party [BJP] for publicity of the Narendra Modi government at the centre.

The political row sparked off after the union petroleum and natural gas minister Dharmendra Pradhan flagged off 30 vehicles from here as part of ‘Jana Amantran Karyakram’ (public invitation programme) on Saturday.

The ‘Jana Amantran Karyakram’ programme, on papers, has been designed to create public awareness about the inauguration of Paradip refinery. However, 15 days before the actual launch, these LCD display and sound system fitted vehicles were seen promoting various schemes of the Central Government including National Food Security Act [NFSA] etc.

“This appears to be a political programme and a political campaign. IOCL should not be the medium of Central Government’s propaganda,” said BJD Spokesperson Amar Prasad Satapathy speaking to reporters today.

BJP Odisha unit President Basant Panda, however, defended the programme saying, “The vehicles are not promoting the BJP. It is not a programme of BJP either. If the Central Government is trying to take its message to the public through its own means, I see nothing wrong in it,” Panda said.

Notably, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will dedicate the refinery to the nation on Feb 7, 2016. This state-of- the-art Rs 35,000 crore refinery with 15 million MT capacity is IOCL’s largest refinery ever. The plant will contribute enormously to the capacity and availability of IOCL’s petroleum products including petrol, diesel, kerosene, LPG etc.

Tourism minister Ashok Panda and Cooperation minister Damodar Rout have raised objections over the pictures of Petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan on the IOCL campaign cars plying in 30 districts to invite people for the inauguration of Paradip oil refinery prior to the scheduled visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 7.

“How far is it justified to launch a ‘campaign unit’ instead of an oil refinery unit with government expenses?” asked Panda. Putting the picture of Petroleum minister on the vehicles is a blatant violation of Supreme Court guidelines, he added.

Similarly, the move to make IOCL a medium of propagation for central programmes with the minister’s photo did not go down well with Paradip MLA and Cooperation minister Damodar Rout.
“The campaign by IOCL is indecent. Those who lack basic knowledge about Centre- State relationship, do such things”, Rout said.

BJD MP and member of Parliamentary Standing Committee on Petroleum and Natural Gas Kalikesh Singhdeo also criticized the move to use a PSU for a political campaign.

“It’s not fair, if centrally sponsored schemes are propagated at IOCL expenses. In this case, the funds of a public sector unit (PSU) are being utilized politically,” Singhdeo said.

The BJP, however, countered it by denying any politics behind the move. “This campaign aims to make citizens aware about the pro-people programmes of central government. There is no politics involved in it. I want to ask them (BJD); why are they so intolerant towards it?” senior BJP leader Prithivraj Harichandan said.

Pradhan had on Saturday flagged off 30 vans named ‘Jan Amantran’ vehicles with an aim to invite people to attend the February 7 dedication of the Rs35,000-crore oil refinery project of the IOCL at Paradip to the nation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The aim of running these vehicles was to reach out to people highlighting the welfare schemes and activities being undertaken by the NDA government, Pradhan had said after flagging off the vehicles.