Pradesh Congress Committee president Niranjan Patnaik on Thursday suggested that the State Government spend advanced Central assistance of Rs 340.87 crore for rescue and relief operations to be needed before and after the disasters to be arisen out of Cyclone Fani, which is likely to hit the Odisha coast on May 3 afternoon.
Patnaik made this demand making an allegation that the BJD Government took Rs 700 crore out of the State disaster fund and distributed the money among farmers under the KALIA scheme before general elections to grab votes.
Stating that a cyclonic storm does not hit Odisha in the month of May, Patnaik wanted to know from which source the State Government would have brought money to mitigate 'Fani'.
He slammed the Chief Minister for requesting the Chief Election Commissioner to postpone the election to Patkura Assembly seat at a time when the Cyclone Fani is all set to hit the State.
"The Chief Minister should have stayed in the State and made strategies to combat the upcoming cyclone 'Fani'. But instead, he went to Delhi to satiate his political ambition," ridiculed Patnaik.