Bhubaneswar: With an aim to corner the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) has decided to hold agitation in the Sate over Rafale deal.
Speaking to the media, Odisha Congress in-charge Jitendra Singh on Saturday said that the NDA’s Rafale deal prevented Odisha youths from getting employment opportunities.
“Had the Jet planes being built at the Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) in Odisha, youths in the State could have got employment opportunities. We are planning a different agitation in Odisha on the issue," Singh said.
He further said, "We will have an intense meeting for the next three days in Odisha which will be attended by district presidents. Meetings of the newly-formed committees, including that of Pradesh Election Committee, will also be conducted. We will also try to begin the ticket distribution process from day after tomorrow and plan to complete it much early.”
On the other hand, PCC chief Niranjan Patnaik alleged that the Rafale deal will turn out to be the biggest scam in the country.
"We will take Rafale deal to the district level as Odisha suffered the most due to the deal. Rafale is a scam that PM Modi did to help Anil Ambani," said Patnaik.
Earlier, Singh, Patnaik, Leader of Opposition Narasingha Mishra attended a meeting convened by AICC president Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi today.
As per reports, several issues pertaining to the party’s strength, weakness and prospects ahead of the ensuing election were discussed in the meeting.
Besides, discussion on strengthening party organisation, poll preparation, chalking out strategies for 2019 elections and ticket distribution were also reportedly discussed during the meeting.