Bhubaneswar: Union minister of textiles Smriti Irani on Tuesday exuded confidence about the BJP winning more than 120 Assembly seats in Odisha as there were "indicators of failure" in health as well as law and order in Odisha.
"While there are indicators of failure of governance here in the areas of health as well as law and order, the BJP has been providing good governance in the country. We will win the support of people," said Irani, who was in the city in connection with her party's observance of June 26, the day Emergency was imposed in the country 43 years ago, as Black Day.
Talking to reporters, Irani described Emergency as symbolic of the power lust of one Congress family. She took potshots at AICC president Rahul Gandhi for extending support to Rourkela youth Mukti Kanta Biswal, who is undertaking a 1,350km foot march to Delhi to highlight the non-fulfilment of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's promise of converting the Ispat General Hospital into a super-speciality facility.
Without naming Rahul, she said the foundation stone for the office of chief medical officer in Amethi, the constituency of the Congress president, was laid when BJP president Amit Shah visited the area. "For the Congress to claim that they are pro-development is ironical," she said.
On June 23, Rahul, in a Twitter post, criticised the Prime Minister on the issue that had triggered an avalanche of reactions. "On 1st April, 2015 the PM played an April Fools' day joke on the people of Orissa, as seen in this video. The Congress party has begun a fund raise to shame the PM into keeping the promise he made. Please contribute generously using this link," said Rahul's tweet to which was attached a video of the Prime Minister's address in Rourkela on Utkal Divas in 2015. The Congress president's tweet had drawn an immediate rebuttal from Union petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who taunted Rahul's ignorance of facts. "Rs 200 crore has been allotted for the Hospital & DPR has been submitted, but when has Rahul ever bothered about facts! After all kinds of scams, interesting to see a new scam in the form of fund-raising," he tweeted in response.
Irani called upon the Odisha government to work in tandem with the Centre to ensure the success of health initiatives such as the Ayushman Bharat, which is set to benefit 10 crore people. "The Prime Minister has appealed for co-operative federalism. I hope the state government walks the extra mile," she said.
Replying to a question on demonetisation being compared with Emergency in certain quarters, the minister defended the move, asserting that it had helped detect and seize black money. "The move even weakened the Naxalites. It cannot be compared with Emergency," she said.
Commenting on the Opposition's criticism of BJP-led government's " achhe din" slogan, Irani said: "Good days have come for beneficiaries of the Ujjwala Yojana, for those women who can now cook without having to inhale smoke, and those who have got toilets. Yes for the Congress, it is bad days because they are losing in state after state," she said.
