PM Modi tears into 'coterie-run' Odisha govt; warns 'scared' BJD against spreading lies

Bhubaneswar: Drawing the battle lines for the rest three phases of Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Odisha, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday came down heavily on Odisha government and warned the ruling BJD to refrain from spreading lies against the BJP out of fear.

Addressing a huge public gathering in Bhubaneswar, PM Modi said that the BJD is misleading people by spreading lies out of fear that the saffron party will stop schemes and programmes if it comes to power in Odisha. "Hum yojnaye bandh nahi karte, hum agar bandh karte hain toh bhrashtachar, dalali aur dalalon ko bandh karte hain (BJP never stops schemes, it stops corruption and the corrupt)," said Modi.

[caption id="attachment_364727" align="aligncenter" width="750"] PM Modi's Roadshow in Bhubaneswar[/caption]

Further launching a scathing attack on the Naveen Patnaik-led government, Modi said that a coterie is running the Odisha government which is concerned about the development of a few. The Centre has provided Rs 3 lakh crore for the development of Odisha in the past 5 years, which is five times more than what it used to get earlier, but development works couldn't proceed due to BJD's corrupt percentage commission (PC) culture, he alleged.

Crime and cases of violence against women have increased under the BJD government and this government is not even able to take action against the culprits and criminals. "A couple of days back, our party worker Manguli Jena was murdered by some goons. This clearly shows that the fear of loss has engulfed them... BJP is committed to eliminating goondaraj from Odisha," said Modi.

[caption id="attachment_364728" align="aligncenter" width="750"] PM Modi and BJP National VP Baijayant Panda[/caption]

On the issue of water in Odisha, PM Modi said that the Centre has already initiated eight projects to improve the drinking water facility in the State and the NDA government will speed up the work. "We will form a new Water ministry that will exclusively look into water facilities across the country and also focus on desalination and proper use of rain water."

In his signature style of speaking in local language, Modi got the crowd into a rapturous chorus by saying, "Bhubaneswar maguchi double engine (BJP in State & BJP at centre), Jatani Maguchi double engine, Khurda Begunia maguchi double engine, sampoorna Odisha maguchi double engine."

PM Narendra Modi in Bhubaneswar:

Bhubaneswar maguchi double engine, Jatani Maguchi double engine, Khurda Begunia maguchi double engine, sampoorna Odisha maguchi.... #ModiInOdisha #OdishaElections2019 #OdishaPollsWithOTV pic.twitter.com/DBJVZEaeIW

— OTV (@otvnews) April 16, 2019