Bhubaneswar, July 29 (Reporter) Leader of Opposition in Odisha Assembly Naveen Patnaik on Monday slammed the BJP government in the state, stating that its manifesto and acclaimed guarantee is a bunch of lies. Participating in the debate on the discussion on the annual budget 2024-2025 presented by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Manjhi,Patnaik said BJP had made several promises to win the elections. He told the BJP “ If you don’t fulfill the promises made to the people, your manifesto and acclaimed guarantee is a bunch of lies”. Patnaik said “I only hope and pray people don’t think that you won the election through lies and false dreams. This will not be good for our state and our people”. He congratulated the new government on presenting its first budget and a special congratulations for repeating more than 80 percent of the schemes implemented by the BJD government. “More than 80 percent of your budget allocation flows towards the schemes formulated by the BJD Government”, Patnaik remarked. He said the BJP formed Government by promising people that they will bring ‘paribartan’ adding that after going through the budget documents, I see this government has changed the names of 45 schemes. BJP said their government will be a game changer but unfortunately has ended up being a ‘name changer’. and a Colour changer,the Leader of Opposition said. He claimed that the budget saw 80 percent of our schemes being repeated.It shows the robustness, pro-people and progressive character of the schemes designed and implemented by the BJD government. The remaining 20 percent resource allocation is what they will use to implement their manifesto promises to the people of Odisha,Patnaik remarked. He said the BJP manifesto promised Rs.50,000 to every woman of Odisha under the Subhadra scheme for which the party needs one lakh crore to fulfill this promise as more than two crore women are in Odisha. The state government, he said however, kept only Rs.10,000 crore in this budget which will cover less than ten percent women of Odisha and questioned what about the rest One crore eighty lakh women? He further said the BJP promised to increase pension to Rs.3500 per month. There are about 50 lakh pensioners in the state, out of which hardly one lakh pensioners will benefit as per the budget allocation. Patnaik said the budget stated that senior citizens over eighty years of age and persons with eighty percent or more disability will get the enhanced pension amount.He questioned what will happen to the remaining 49 lakh pensioners between sixty to eighty years of age including widows, PWDs and distressed people? The government, he said, required Rs.21,000 crore per year to fulfill this promise. On the promise of Rs.3100 per quintal MSP for farmers of the state, the Leader of Opposition said the allocation kept in the budget will not be adequate to cover even thirty percent farmers and asked how the government planned to cover the remaining lakhs of farmers of Odisha? The BJP,Patnaik said, also promised three hundred units of free electricity in campaign speeches. The Central Government has planned free electricity for one crore houses for the whole country. Odisha’s share,he said, would be 3 lakh houses whereas we have one and half crore houses in the state. “Is this the free electricity you promised to the people”? Patnaik asked. He challenged that in the the next five years BJP won’t be able to cover even five percent of Odisha’s population under three hundred units of free electricity. The people of Odisha have been waiting for a zero electricity bill from July but you have cheated the people of Odisha,Patnaik said. The BJP,he said has promised twenty five lakh lakhpati didis by the year 2027 in three years for which the government needs Rs.20,000 crores to implement this. "But you have allocated Rs.1000 crore in the budget," Patnaik said and added, " Let me on record demand that the list of “lakhpati didis” be subsequently placed in this August house with all details." The budget document, he said, provides Rs.20 crores for the industrial corridor connecting Rourkela-Sambalpur Paradip and Dhamra by June 2027 but a corridor like this will not cost less than Rs.1 lakh crores, he added. The Leader of Opposition came down heavily on the BJP government stating that “ Your party is known for “jumla”,.It is a cruel joke on the people of Odisha to whom you gave the dream of a developed Odisha”, he remarked...////...