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Updated: Feb 03, 2019 17:35 IST

BJP president Amit Shah on Sunday took on Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik and accused them of not having done enough for the people of Odisha.

Addressing a rally at Puri in Odisha, Sha claimed that neither the Congress government at the Centre nor the BJD government had done anything for the development of the state. Saying that the UPA government had given Rs 79,000 crore for the state, he said, “In the last five years, the BJP government has given Rs 2.11 lakh crore for the development of the state.”

Referring to the PM-KISAN scheme announced in the 2019 budget, Amit Shah said the face of Congress president Rahul Gandhi was ashen when the scheme was announced.

“We will give Rs 75000 crore to farmers this year. Rahul Gandhi is not able to understand this. He does not know what is a Rabi crop and what is a kharif,” he said.

Saying that the BJP had launched a Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) scheme, Shah said that the Congress too had a DBT scheme.

“In our tenure, Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) ensures money is directly credited into the account of the beneficiaries. The Congress too had DBT yojana - Dealer Broker Transfer - where the money was credited into the accounts of the middlemen,” Shah said.

Also read: Congress’s OROP is Only Rahul Only Priyanka: Amit Shah

Amit Shah said that the state had not implemented the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat scheme because the Patnaik government was afraid that Narendra Modi would become popular in the state.

“Please remove our name, but at least run the programme in Odisha. Would the Odisha health scheme work for Odiya youths who have migrated to Surat or any other part of the country? No, it won’t. But the Ayushman Bharat scheme will work work there. Elections are at least 3 months away, please adopt the Ayushman Bharat scheme,” Amit Shah said.

He said that it was a matter of shame that the state was being run by a chief minister who did not understand or speak the state’s language Odiya.

Saying that the Congress and the Naveen Patnaik led Biju Janata Dal (BJD) were two sides of the same coin, he said that the BJD was the B-team of the Congress.

“Naveen babu’s party is the B-team of the Congress. They are two sides of the same coin. The Congress ruled for so long. Did Odisha develop? Naveen Patnaik has also ruled for so long. Did Odisha develop?” Shah questioned.

Equating the BJD government in the state to a burnt transformer, Shah asked if power would go to the people’s homes if the transfer was gutted.

“Would power go to your home without a transformer? The BJD transformer has been gutted. When a transformer is gutted, it has to be replaced. This BJD government has to be thrown out,” Shah said.