Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government's decision to implement the Rs 125-crore "Ama Ghare LED Light" scheme has sparked off a tug-of-war between the BJD and the BJP. The project is being seen as a move to counter the Centre's Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana that seeks to provide free LPG connection to poor women.

As part of the programme, the state government has decided to give each poor household four LED bulbs free of cost. The BJP sensed politics behind the move and accused the Naveen Patnaik government of being a "copycat".

Odisha finance minister Sashi Bhusan Behera, however, refuted the charge.

"There is no politics in it. The state has been promoting energy efficiency for the last six years in government offices and on city streets through use of energy efficient lighting systems. To optimise the benefits of the move, we need to generate awareness among the people. Hence we have introduced the scheme and made a budgetary provision of Rs 125 crore for this."

The LED light scheme seeks to target more than 50 lakh beneficiaries, which is significant in terms of vote bank politics. The tug-of-war over LED lights is reminiscent of the tussle over the Re 1 rice scheme that benefits around 52 lakh people.

The BJP's grudge about the rice scheme was that the BJD had tried to appropriate it without giving any credit to the Centre for supplying the subsidised grain. The scheme, however, helped BJD reap rich dividends in the elections.

BJP state unit vice-president Samir Mohanty said: "They don't have their own schemes and are trying to appropriate those of the Centre. Recently, they launched the Khusi scheme to provide sanitary napkins. The scheme is part of the 'Beti Padhao and Beti Bahhcao Karyakarma' of the Centre."

Mohanty alleged that Naveen had also appropriated several health schemes of the Centre. "We will ensure that they no more hoodwink people by making false claims. Let them make budgetary provision for all the 31 schemes announced by them," he said.

However, BJD spokesperson Samir Ranjan Dash said: "The BJP is worried about its future. With its popularity graph showing a downward trend, its leaders are making these allegations. We are not countering any programme of the Centre. It is our own programme. The truth is that Naveen Patnaik government's initiatives are picked up by other states."