Congress and BJP lack sincerity for development: Naveen

Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday accused the opposition Congress and BJP of lacking sincerity for the development of Odisha and the state capital in particular.

Patnaik, who had earlier dubbed Congress as "corrupt" and BJP as "communal", raised questions on their sincerity while campaigning for the ruling BJD candidates contesting for the January 8 elections to the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC).

Taking a break from the official work, Patnaik visited several wards to campaign for his party candidates in the fray. The Chief Minister started his day's campaigning from ward number 45 and appealed to the people to vote for the ruling party candidates for the overall development of the state capital.

While highlighting welfare programmes of the BJD government, Patnaik claimed his government had been instrumental in the welfare of people living in both rural and urban areas. The Chief Minister blamed the opposition parties for putting hurdles before developmental activities being carried out in the state by his government.

Leader of opposition Bhupinder Singh of Congress, who too campaigned for his party candidates in the same ward claimed the people of Odisha now wanted change. "The people across the state now say-enough is enough. The BJD has already ruled for 15 years," Singh said.

Singh claimed that the UPA government at the Centre has funded all the developmental activities undertaken in the BMC area. "The BJD government is taking credit for developmental works while those are funded by the Centre," the Congress leader pointed out.

Senior BJP leader and former minister B B Harichandan during his campaign blamed the BJD for the lack of hygiene in the state capital.