President's address detached from reality, people's struggles: BJD MP Sasmit Patra

New Delhi, Feb 4 (PTI) Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MP Sasmit Patra on Tuesday termed President Droupadi Murmu's recent address to Parliament "detached from reality, and disconnected from the struggles of the people of India".

Participating in a debate on the Motion of Thanks to the president's address in Rajya Sabha, Patra also claimed that the address failed to focus on the country's most pressing issues.

"The speech was full of anti-rhetoric, with hopeful promises and a vision clouded in ambiguity. It was detached from reality, disconnected from the struggles of the people of India. Rather than presenting real solutions, it rehashed recycled promises and avoided addressing the nation's most pressing issues," Patra said.

The address was "clearly for the government, by the government and of the government, and not for the people of India", he said.

"The president's address sidestepped the real concerns of the nation. It failed to acknowledge rising inflation, high unemployment, farmers' distress and the government's failure in addressing farmers' issues such as doubling their income, increasing minimum support price, and implementing the Swaminathan Commission's recommendations," Patra charged.

Stating that the BJD has been repeatedly demanding special status for Odisha for nearly two decades, Patra said, "Despite the honourable president's own experiences with Odisha's challenges, including the devastating cyclones that we face, the critical demand was not addressed or reflected in her speech." Patra added that the address was silent on some of the most crucial issues facing Odisha, the president's home state.

"Issues relating to Odisha, such as the Polavaram and Mahanadi disputes, were not reflected in the speech. Non-revision of coal royalty, lack of green tax implementation, inadequate national highways, poor rail connectivity and insufficient mobile and digital infrastructure, which are so critical for Odisha, the state the honourable president belongs to, were not addressed or referred even once," he said.

The address also failed to mention the need for complete withdrawal of 18 per cent GST on tendu leaf, a livelihood source for 10 lakh tribal women in Odisha, Patra said.

"The address highlighted a government-focused narrative that disregards people's struggles, especially Odisha's long-standing demand for special category status," he added. PTI MSS ARI

Source: PTI