Jeypore: Accusing the ruling BJD in Odisha of being “insensitive” to the plight of the poor,
Prime Minister Narendra Modi Friday asserted that a “double- engine” government of the BJP at the Centre and the state will ensure speedy development in the state.
Kicking off his campaign for simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in Odisha from here along with Petroleum and Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, party vice-president Baijyanta Panda, ex-minister Manmohan samal, Bijaya Mohaptra, former CM Giridhar Gomango, MP candidates Jayram Pangi and Balabhadra Majhi and 13 MLA candidates, Modi said the subsequent governments in the state have betrayed its people.
In a scathing attack on the Naveen Patnaik government, a departure from the usual practice of going soft on the ruling party in the state, Modi said: “Both the Congress and the BJD have betrayed the people of Odisha. Now it’s the time to punish them and bring in a double-engine government of the BJP at the Centre and the state to build of a ‘new Odisha’.”
Padmashree Kalama Pujari felicitated Prime Minister with a traditional tribal hat and welcomed him to Jeypore.
The PM, who began his speech in Odia to strike an emotional chord with the people here, said the state government has not been “cooperative” with the Centre, as a result of which the poor were deprived of benefits of several welfare schemes such as Ayushman Bharat and PM-KISSAN.
“This is an insensitive government. Had it been thinking about the welfare of its people, it would have implemented the Ayushman Bharat health scheme and the PM-KISSAN scheme,” Modi said, alleging that state government “chose political interests over development”.
He also pointed out that the state has about Rs 6,500 crore in District Mineral Foundation (DMF), of which it could spend only Rs 1,000 crore.
The remaining funds are lying in the government coffers, he stated.
The PM also charged the state government with “giving a free hand to mines mafia and chitfund looters”.
“Should you not punish this government? Don’t you deserve a change for a better? I want to tell you that this is your opportunity to bring about that change,” Modi said, calling upon the people to vote for the BJP in both Lok Sabha and Assembly elections and give the party a chance to do ‘chowkidari’ in Odisha.
The PM and his partymen have launched the ‘Main Bhi Chowkidar’ (I too am a watchman) campaign to blunt the Opposition’s, especially the Congress’s, ‘chowkidar chor hai’ (watchman is a thief) slogan.
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