Twenty-four years of alleged mismanagement in housing welfare — and Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi wants every voter to remember it. On Saturday, 14 November 2026, Majhi posted a pointed rebuke of the previous Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government, declaring that every eligible family in Odisha is now receiving a pucca ghar (permanent house) under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY) — something he says was deliberately denied before.

The Allegation: Ineligible Names, Stolen Credit

Majhi's post — written in both Odia and English — levels a two-part charge against the BJD era. First, that ineligible beneficiaries were included in PMAY lists while deserving families were left out. Second, that the previous administration attempted to claim political credit for a central government scheme launched in 2015 under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 'The previous BJD government faced allegations of irregularities in PM Awas Yojana and claiming credit for the scheme,' Majhi wrote, attributing the remarks to Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan.

The post is framed as a direct contrast: then versus now. Under the 'people's government,' Majhi asserts, 'every eligible family in Odisha is being provided a pucca house, ensuring no deserving beneficiary is left behind.'

BJP's First Government in Odisha After 24 Years of BJD

The political stakes behind this narrative are substantial. The BJD governed Odisha continuously from 2000 to 2024 — a remarkable 24-year run under Naveen Patnaik. The BJP's victory in the May 2024 Odisha assembly elections was historic: the party's first-ever majority in the state. Majhi was sworn in as Chief Minister in June 2024.

PMAY — a centrally sponsored scheme — has long been a flashpoint between state and central governments over who controls beneficiary lists, funds flow, and on-ground delivery. For the new BJP dispensation in Bhubaneswar, asserting clean and transparent implementation of PMAY serves a dual purpose: it validates its governance pitch and anchors blame for past shortfalls squarely on the BJD.

Chouhan's Weight Behind the Charge

Shivraj Singh Chouhan, the Union Minister for Agriculture and Rural Development, lends federal authority to the claim. His name appearing in Majhi's post signals that the housing irregularity narrative is not just a state-level talking point — it has the backing of the central government's welfare machinery. Chouhan has been a prominent BJP face in multiple states for welfare scheme outreach since the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The convergence of a state CM and a Union Minister on the same PMAY accountability message follows a pattern seen across other BJP-governed states that unseated long-ruling regional parties — using centrally sponsored scheme delivery as both a governance metric and a political cudgel.

With PMAY progress reports for Odisha and potential beneficiary verification audits expected in the coming months, the proof of Majhi's promises will arrive in the form of hard numbers — and those numbers will be watched closely.