Modi slams Congress, BJD over poverty
Bhubaneswar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday slammed the Congress and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) for keeping people poor in the country for their personal gain and vote bank politics.
“In fact, the Congress and BJD see their political crop in poverty. This is the reason a large part of India including Odisha has remained impoverished for so many decades,” said Modi at an election rally in Sonepur.
He said generation after generation the Congress was able to give only raised slogans for the eradication of poverty. While people got poorer, their leaders got richer. Poverty will automatically vanish if Congress disappears, he added.
Modi said Congress has planned to implement a policy that will lead to inflation with the increase of the price of essential commodities.
“This election will decide whether our India’s heroes will emerge strong or those who take Pakistan’s side,” said the Prime Minister.
“Do you want a majboor sarkar (dependent government) or a majboot sarkar (strong government),” Modi asked the gathering at Sonepur.
Attacking the Naveen Patnaik led BJD government in the state, he said farmers have been selling their produces in distress even though the Centre has hiked the minimum support price to 1.5 times of the production cost.
Besides, people are migrating to other states in search of jobs.
“Odisha is rich with abundant natural resources. Then, what is the reason for the state to lag behind in terms of development,” asked Modi.
“Once our government is formed in the state and the Centre, Odisha will be recognised for tourism instead of migration of masses,” he added.
He also raised the water scarcity issue in the region in spite of the presence of the Mahanadi and Tel rivers in the region.
Lok Sabha and Assembly elections will be held simultaneously in Odisha in four phases beginning on April 11 for 21 Lok Sabha and 147 Assembly seats.