Amidt war of words between the BJD and the BJP over unemployment in Odisha, the Congress on Sunday claimed that both the parties are pretending to be worried over the plight of the jobless since polls are due next year.
Stating that common people are aware of the truth, the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Niranjan Patnaik said neither the BJP nor the ruling BJD is sincere about providing jobs.
"As election is nearing, the BJP and the BJD are hoodwinking people by accusing each other over employment generation," Patnaik said in a statement.
While the BJP's youth wing plans to lock all employment exchanges in the state on Monday protesting rising unemployment, the BJD has announced that it will stage dharna before central government offices to counter the saffron party.
"There is no difference between rules of the BJD and the BJP. Both parties are corrupt. They have jointly looted Odias during their rule," Patnaik alleged, referring to BJD-BJP rule in Odisha from 2000 to 2009.
In Odisha, the BJD is involved in chit fund scam, irrigation scam, sanitation scam and food security scam, while the BJP at the Centre is involved in the Rafale deal scam and the abnormal price rise of petrol and diesel, the Congress leader alleged.
Stating that the signs are really worrying for the job seekers in Odisha, he said the unemployment rate in the state during the first three months of 2018 zoomed to a high of 6.77 per cent against 4.7 per cent in last quarter (October-December) of 2017.
According to the CMIE-BSE data, the unemployment rate in Odisha in January 2018 was around 5.5 per cent that has further increased to 7 per cent and 7.8 per cent in February and March 2018, respectively, Patnaik said. Over 85 lakh people in Odisha have no jobs though Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised to provide 2 crore jobs every year in the country, he said, adding, BJP president Amit Shah has stated that all the Indians cannot get jobs.
The Rafale scam also stole thousands of jobs from the HAL unit of Odisha, a PSU, as the deal went to a private company, Patnaik said.
BJD General Secretary Sanjay Das Burma said the party's student and youth wings will stage protests in front of central government offices from Monday to Wednesday.
On the other hand, BJP state unit secretary Bhrugu Buxipatra alleged that the BJD government has no positive agenda for development of the state.
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