Subarnapur: Senior BJD leader Sujata Raut Karthikeyan on Tuesday accused the BJP government of neglecting Odisha’s interests and failing to fulfil its election promises while addressing a Jan Sampark Padyatra at Dunguripali in Subarnapur district.

Addressing a public meeting after the padyatra, she alleged that amendments to the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act had weakened Odisha’s mining rights by transferring greater control to the Centre.

She also accused the state government of remaining silent on the Kotia dispute, alleging that it had surrendered the region to Andhra Pradesh. She further claimed that the BJP government was conspiring to hand over Mahanadi water to Chhattisgarh.

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Karthikeyan alleged that farmers, youths, students, women, tribals, Dalits and religious minorities had been let down by the BJP government during its two-and-a-half-year tenure. She also criticised the government over rising crimes against women, the alleged decline in women’s empowerment and delays in pension benefits for elderly people.

Accusing the Centre of undermining federalism and curtailing Odisha’s economic rights, she said the state’s water, forests and land were under threat. She claimed that people were recalling the development achieved during former chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s tenure and warned that voters would respond to the government’s failures.