Farmers, central negligence dominate Naveen's poll talk in Nabarangpur

Nabarangpur: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday asserted that farmers are his government's top priority. He again assured the 25 lakh left-off farmers that his government will transfer Rs 10,000 under KALIA scheme in one lot on the day his party forms government post elections.

Addressing a poll rally in Nabarangpur, Naveen in his trademark style started his speech saying 'Apane mane khusi to... Mu bhi Khusi'. He then slammed the star campaigners of opposition BJP and Congress. Farmers and their issues have been accorded the number one priority in BJD's poll manifesto, claimed Patnaik.

Like his previous poll addresses, Naveen today again reiterated that the rush of top Central leaders from Delhi to such remote places in the State is only for garnering votes for the upcoming polls. He asked, “Why they haven't toured Nabarangpur earlier?”

Raking up the central negligence issue once again, Naveen said who stopped KBK yojana; Who pruned the SC/ST scholarships; Who created deadlock on Mahanadi river dispute; Where are farmers in Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY); Where are two lakh jobs; What happened to Har Khet ko pani programme?

In the same vein, Naveen claimed that when State government has allocated Rs 20,000 crore for irrigation; Centre has provisioned mere Rs 250 crore.

The 2019 campaign style of CM Naveen Patnaik seems little different from his earlier editions.  Naveen, in his election speeches, now focuses on questioning Modi-led NDA government, which coincidentally bears a stark resemblance to PM Modi's campaign style, feel observers.

On the other hand, responding to CM Naveen's comments, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said, "Naveen babu might have had a memory loss. I want to remind him that during the 14th Finance Commission, Odisha received lakhs of rupees of extra funds as compared to the previous Finance Commission. You (CM Naveen) were freely distributing mining resources of the State to industrialists but after Modi ji came to power, laws were framed in such a way that the money earned from mines stayed in the State only. Under the District Mineral Fund, around Rs 6500 rupees is lying without being utilised in Odisha."

It seems that #Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik is suffering from memory loss for which he is making such baseless allegations," says Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Naveen's Central negligence remark #OdishaElections2019 #OdishaPollsWithOTV pic.twitter.com/rZb5rJEjaH

— OTV (@otvnews) April 6, 2019