Bhawanipatna, April 2
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday slammed the Naveen Patnaik-led Odisha government for “not cooperating” with the Centre in bringing about speedy development in the state.
He said he had taken advantage of central schemes to ensure welfare of Odiyas.
“The government in Odisha did not cooperate with us. Despite its indifference, we did our best in launching development projects in the state,” Modi said while addressing a rally in this west Odisha town.
This chowkidaar (watchman) has taken advantage of the Centre’s schemes to ensure welfare of the Odiyas, he insisted.
If the BJP had formed government in Odisha after the 2014 election, the state would have witnessed “speedy development in all sectors”, he claimed.
Calling upon the people to vote for the double-engine government of the BJP at the Centre and the state, Modi said Odisha should repeat the history created by Uttar Pradesh in 2017 and Tripura in 2018.
Listing his government’s achievements, he said the NDA government had constructed pucca homes for eight lakh families, provided power connections to 24 lakh homes, gas connections to 40 lakh mothers and sisters.
“In the past five years, we have opened bank accounts for 1.4 crore people, built toilets in 50 lakh homes, ensuring women’s safety and security,” he maintained.
Hitting out at the Congress, Modi said the grand old party had cheated Odisha people over the years by denying the poor their due rights.
“Under the Congress rule, middlemen benefitted largely. It is because of this deception, people had to go to migrate to other states, leaving their families,” he alleged.
Without taking a single leave in the last five years, this “chowkidar has worked diligently” to bring about a transformation in the country, Modi said.
“The credit for the transformation goes to the people of the country, who voted the BJP to power. It is your vote and not Modi who brought positive changes in the country, lit up lives of the poor, filled their lives with hope,” he added.
Modi and his partymen have launched the ‘Main bhi chowkidar’ campaign to blunt the Opposition’s, especially the Congress’s, ‘Chowkidar chor hai’ slogan.
Assembly elections in Odisha will be held along with Lok Sabha polls in four phases on April 11, 18, 23 and 29.
