Prime Minister Narendra Modi, though not naming the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD regime, said the Government in Odisha is in a deep slumber and still to rise to the development trend the whole country is going through now.
“You all must say Bande Mataram closing fists of both hands, up with top of your pitches, and your voice should reach at least Bhubaneswar. Your Government is sleeping and your voice must wake it up,” Modi said.
“lord Jagannath has made Odisha rich in natural resources. But the State is still poor,” lamented Modi, addressing a big rally held as Vikash Utsav here on Thursday.
Claiming that the BJP-ruled States are on a development path, the Prime Minister wanted to know why people of the natural resources-rich Odisha go outside to some western States in search of work.
“My Government is committed to bringing development in the eastern and north-east States of the country. We have initiated many pro-people programmes for development of the poor. We are committed to making 3.5 crore people of Odisha part of the development process,” Modi said.
“We have to construct more roads, rails, ports, schools and medicals in this part of the country, he said.
He ended his speech wishing to know from the gathering whether they want to progress or not, and urged them to join him in the slogan if they want to do so. “Your voice should be so high that that would reach Bhubaneswar and wake up the Government from the deep slumber,” Modi ignited the enthused crowd. Modi said eastern India has remained economically backward, and his Government has focused its development plan in such a way as to uproot poverty from the region.
He named Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Haryana as “more developed States” than Bihar, West Bengal, Assam and Odisha.
He said the policies of his Government are “related to everyday problems of the poor in India”.
The Prime Minister said, “Who needs GovernmentIJ Do rich people need GovernmentIJ If anybody needs it, it is the poor of the nation. Governments are for the poor…we have to defeat poverty. And that is why we work towards the empowerment of the poor.” Modi said his Government has already electrified more than 18,000 villages. “These villages were without power even after nearly 70 years of Independence and (now) this is the beginning of empowerment of the poor,” he added.
He concluded his speech with Bharat Mata ki Jai.