Bhubaneswar, May 4: Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, the BJP candidate for Odisha's Sambalpur constituency, on Friday exuded confidence that his party will win all the 21 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

Addressing a press meet here, the Union Minister said, "Last time, the BJP secured 38 per cent votes and our opponent got 42 per cent. The difference was just four per cent and we won eight Lok Sabha seats. I believe this time the Bharatiya Janata Party is going to win all 21 seats in Odisha."

The BJP leader further claimed that the party will also form government in the state by winning maximum Assembly seats.

He said Odisha had received a "meagre Rs 3 lakh crore during the Congress rule at the Centre between 2004 and 2014"; while in the last 10 years of the Narendra Modi government, the state received "around Rs 18 lakh crore".

Union Minister Pradhan claimed that despite the receipt of huge amounts of financial aid from the Centre, several places in the state lack drinking water and irrigation facilities, the school dropout rate in the state is high and the cases of malnutrition are also highest.

(IANS)

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