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By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, January 29, 2019: BJP president Amit Shah on Tuesday slammed the ruling BJD, saying that while Congress ruled for decades, it didn’t alleviate poverty, and now with the BJD as the state government, the funds released by the Centre are not able      to reach the poor.

“You have given the BJD 19 years to rule and now give BJP to rule the state for five years. We will make Odisha number one in the country,” he asserted.

Addressing BJP workers at Kulia in Cuttack district, Shah made it clear, “Congress ruled India for decades but poor did not even get basic amenities such as gas connections, medical benefits and electricity. While in Odisha the poor is unable to benefit from schemes of Central government due to the narrow mindset of State Govt,” Shah said while

He lashed out at Odisha Chief Minister for not implementing the Ayushmaan Bharat Yojana which would have benefited lakhs of people of the state.

Patnaik, the BJP President said, is so scared of the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that he refused to implement the Ayushman Bharat Yojana scheme, fearing that all the credit for the scheme would go to Mr. Modi.

Shah reiterated that BJP would retain power at the Centre because the Narendra Modi government has sincerely worked for the welfare and development of the poor and people belonging to Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes.

Lambasting Patnaik, Shah said Odisha will have an ‘Odia-speaking’ chief minister after the Assembly elections.

Shah also came down heavily on Naveen Patnaik government for its failure to utilize the central fund as well as the District Mineral Fund for the development of the state and its people.

The 14th Finance Commission had earmarked Rs 2.11 lakh crore for Odisha, but the government failed to utilise the funds as a result the benefits could not reach the people of the state.

Shah asked the party workers not to sleep till Modi is elected for the second time and the Naveen Patnaik government is ousted.

He also said that the Mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) of opposition parties was devoid of leader and policy.

How can they form a strong government? Shah asked.

Earlier in the day, the BJP president visited Satyabhamapur in Cuttack, the birth place of Utkal Gourab Madhusudan Das to pay his floral tribute at the statue.