Angul: Making a scathing attack on BJP, Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik Saturday said that some saffron leaders are involved in illegal coal trade.
“Are some BJP bigwigs involved in illegal coal trade in the state?” he questioned while addressing an election rally here on Saturday. He said that the BJP leaders are working for the interest of the contractors and not the local youth.
Indulging in his pet Centre-bashing, the BJD supremo said that Central government is collecting thousands of crore of rupees from Odisha towards coal royalty. But, the state is only getting pollution and dust in return. He pointed out that the state has suffered due to non-revision of coal royalty for the last five years.
Patnaik said that Central-sector companies like MCL and NTPC are getting huge benefits from their operations in the state, but no development works in the peripheries have been done by these companies.
“At a time when many landless people in the State are yet to get justice, why the Central ministers from Odisha have kept mum over the issue?,” Patnaik wondered obviously targeting union petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan and tribal affairs minister Juel Oram.
