Bhubaneswar: After successfully organising two government events that coincided with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent programmes in the state, the BJD government has planned a similar event on the very day (January 25) when Congress chief Rahul Gandhi will address a rally here. Therefore, the state, this time, will witness a Rahul vs Naveen show.
To divert the attention of public from Rahul’s rally, the BJD government will hold a farmers’ conclave in Puri January 25. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will grace the occasion and kick-start distribution of financial assistance to farmers under Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation (KALIA) scheme.
“Chief Minister will attend the farmers’ convention January 25 which will be attended by 1 lakh farmers,” Puri MLA and Revenue Minister Maheswar Mohanty said.
Sources said that as the general elections draw closes, the ruling party is in no mood to give even a small chance to the Opposition to gain traction in the state. THe KALIA scheme has proved to be a boon for the government and a large number of farmers are already attracted towards it.
The Congress has alleged that Naveen has deliberately scheduled the programme on the same day to counter Rahul’s rally. “Naveen babu is a copy master, but this time Congress will be ahead of BJD,” Congress MLA Debendra Sharma said.
The opposition Congress and BJP continued to attack the state government for diverting the contingency fund to meet the expenditure of KALIA scheme. The state has drawn `734 crore from contingency funds for the KALIA scheme. “The contingency fund is meant to be used in case of a natural disasters and it can’t be used for anything else. But they are not following the Constitutional guidelines and going against the Supreme Court,” senior Congress leader Narasingha Mishra said. Similarly, BJP too slammed the state government and called it a political gimmick. “General elections are hardly 100 days away. This is just a political gimmick by the state government, “Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said.
Commenting on the issue, BJD spokesperson Sasmit Patra said that the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF) and National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF) are dedicated to combat the challenges during a disaster. This does not apply for the contingency fund. The statement of opposition parties reflects their anti-farmer attitude.
Meanwhile, Agriculture secretary Sourabh Garg said the money provided by the state government will be credited to the bank account of the beneficiaries.
In the first phase, about 12 to 14 lakh beneficiaries will be provided financial assistance and the final list of the beneficiaries will be announced January 22, he added.
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