Will probe Odisha scams if voted to power: Rajnath

Bhubaneswar, April 2 (IANS) If voted to power, the BJP will probe all Odisha scams that occurred during Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's regime, party president Rajnath Singh said Wednesday.

Addressing an election rally at Bhabanipatna, the district town of Kalahandi, he said the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) is in power for the past 14 years but Kalahandi continues to be the poorest district in the country.

The Biju Janata Dal exited the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance in 2009 ahead of the parliamentary polls after being the ally of the BJP for nine years.

"I have got information that research is being conducted on the starvation and poverty of Kalahandi in Oxford and Harvard," he told the gathering.

Kalahandi is about 430 km from the state capital Bhubaneswar.

Highlighting the steps taken by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government led by Chief Minister Raman Singh in neighbouring Chhattisgarh, he said: "You might have seen Chhattisgarh 10 years ago. Please see the changes that have taken place. The tribals are happy."

Accusing the BJD government of rampant corruption, he said Rs.60,000 crore mining scams and more than Rs.600 crore scam in rural job scheme have taken place in this poor state.

Holding both the central and the state governments responsible, he said: "I want to assure you if our government comes to power, we will probe all these scams and we will not spare anyone involved in it," the BJP leader said.

Hitting out at the Odisha government for the law and order situation, he said every day the state is witnessing 10 murders or attempts to murder, six kidnappings and 14 dacoities besides atrocities are being committed on women.

"The Naveen Patnaik government has cheated you. We have respect for his father, late Biju Patnaik who fought for India's Independence. Is Naveen doing justice to the legacy? It is only the BJP which can do justice to his legacy," Rajnath Singh said.

Counting the achievements of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee-led government at the centre, he said it was during his government prices were kept under check and there were no instances of corruption.

But in the past 10 years of the Congress government, Rs.5.5 lakh crore scams and corruption have taken place. "A small part of this scam money could have developed Odisha," he said.

Polling for 21 Lok Sabha seats the 147-member assembly would be held simultaneously April 10 and 17.