By Our Correspondent
NEW DELHI/BHUBANESWAR: On behalf of the Biju Janata Dal and our leader Shri. Naveen Patnaik ji, BJD MP Dr. Sasmit Patra rise to express our party’s deep disappointment with the Hon’ble President’s Address.
MP Dr Patra said this speech is full of empty rhetoric, with hopeful promises and a vision clouded in ambiguity. It is detached from reality, disconnected from the struggles of the people. Rather than presenting real solutions, it rehashes recycled promises and avoids addressing the nation’s most pressing issues.
He said “ In the speech, the phrase “my government” was used 55 times, but terms like “my people” or “my states” were not mentioned once. This address was clearly for the government, by the government, and of the government—not for the people,”
‘Hon’ble Chairman, the President’s Address sidestepped the real concerns of the nation. It fails to acknowledge rising inflation, high unemployment, farmer distress, and the government’s failure in addressing farmer issues, such as doubling income, increasing Minimum Support Prices (MSP), and implementing the Swaminathan Commission’s recommendations,’ he said.
For nearly two decades, the Biju Janata Dal and the 4.5 crore people of Odisha have demanded Special Category State status. Despite the President’s own experience with Odisha’s challenges, including devastating cyclones, this critical demand was not addressed in the speech.
He said, that the Address is also silent on other pressing issues facing Odisha: the Polavaram and Mahanadi disputes, the non-revision of coal royalty, the lack of Green Tax implementation, inadequate national highways, poor railway connectivity, and insufficient mobile and digital infrastructure.
Moreover, it ignores the long-standing demand for the inclusion of 139 communities in the ST list, as well as the inclusion of Ho, Mundari, Bhumij, Kui, and Saora languages in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution.
Additionally, the President’s Address fails to mention the need for complete withdrawal of 18% GST on Kendu Leaf, a livelihood source for 10 lakh tribal women in Odisha. This has been consistently demanded by our leader Shri. Naveen Patnaik ji.
Hon’ble Chairman, the silence in the President’s Address is loud, as it fails to acknowledge the real issues faced by the people of Odisha, while offering praise for government achievements.
This Address highlights a government-focused narrative that disregards the people’s struggles, especially Odisha’s long-standing demand for Special Category status.
‘Concluding, I again register our strong sense of disappointment with the President’s address on behalf of our leader Shri. Naveen Patnaik ji, our party the Biju Janata Dal and the 4.5 crore people of Odisha whose issues and concerns were absent and silent in the President’s Address, he added
