Dikhyaa Mohanty 
On Sunday, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) accused Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, including Union Ministers, of misleading the people of Odisha about housing under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) for the state.
During a news conference in Bhubaneswar, BJD spokesperson Gautam Budha Das said that state party leaders forced BJP national president J P Nadda to supply false information. According to him, it was incorrectly reported that 75,000 PMAY dwellings had been PMAY sanctioned. Nadda was provided this incorrect information during a public gathering in Bhawanipatna, Kalahandi district, recently by state BJP leaders and a Union Minister in order to mislead people, Das claimed, adding that the BJP head had to confront an unpleasant scenario as a result.
The BJD spokesman accused the BJP of scheming to deny lakhs of impoverished people of PMAY houses after the BJP’s defeat in the 2019 elections, alleging that party officials and a Union Minister exerted pressure on the Union Rural Development Minister not to award PMAY houses for Odisha. According to him, the Odisha PMAY portal was similarly closed for three years.
According to Das, due to persistent pressure from the BJD, just eight lakh dwellings have been sanctioned instead of 15 lakh, and he wants to know how the other seven lakh would be housed.
The BJD leader also accused BJP MPs of impeding the delivery of PMAY homes to needy people in Odisha rather than helping it.
