Odisha Dy CM Pravati Parida takes veiled dig at VK Pandian, accuses BJD of ‘misusing’ tourism funds

Odisha Deputy Chief Minister Pravati Parida on Saturday took a jab at the previous Naveen Patnaik-led BJD government, accusing it of spending public money to promote one person, a veiled reference to VK Pandian.

The Deputy CM made these statements during an interaction with the media in Bhubaneswar where she criticised past tourism expenditures borne by the state exchequer. 

Further, she accused the previous BJD government of utilising tourism funds in a personality-centric manner, promoting a particular individual rather than actual tourism development.

What Deputy CM Pravati Parida Alleged:

“Earlier, funds meant for tourism were spent to promote one specific individual. However, the current government is people-centric and will never prioritise any specific individual or allot funds for the same,” she said.

BJD Government’s Decisions Causing Legal Troubles:

She further alleged that the previous BJD government had allotted many prime tourism sites to party workers at throwaway rates, with some receiving leases for 40 years and others for 80 years, leading to legal complications in current efforts to develop them.

“We have allocated funds to develop tourism sites at lesser-known places and promote spiritual tourism. However, the leases granted by the previous government based on favouritism are causing legal hurdles,” claimed Pravati Parida.

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Odisha to Come Up as Prime Spiritual Tourism Destination

In the same address, the Deputy CM assured that under the current government, such favouritism would not happen; instead, prime tourism locations would be allocated to investors, particularly from Odisha, to boost tourism.

She noted that a total of Rs 8,153 crore in tourism investments had already been approved at an unprecedented pace. Further, three officials have been appointed to facilitate land allotment, and financial institutions are being linked to support investors facing monetary issues.

“Odisha is the land of Lord Jagannath and is a prime destination for spiritual tourism. The government is focusing on boosting tourism around local deities and also providing secure locations for interested investors, for which it has allocated Rs 300 crore for infrastructure development,” she added.

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BJD’s Counter-Attack:

In response to Parvati Parida’s allegations of the previous government misusing tourism expenditure and causing legal issues, BJD MLA Sarada Jena termed them baseless accusations.

The current Mohan Majhi government is accusing the past government of issues that it (BJP government) is finding tough to tackle, he said, adding that all the current wide-ranging infrastructure development in the tourism sector happened under Naveen Patnaik.