Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Friday and Suturday embarked on the BJP's Jan Ashirwad Yatra in Koraput district and described the district as not less than "Switzerland".
The bureaucrat-turned-politician received a rousing welcome by the saffron party workers on his arrival at Koraput and Jeypore Vaishnaw said he was overwhelmed by the reception he received from the BJP activists on his maiden visit to the district after becoming a Central Minister.
Vaishnaw assured of taking major steps towards the development of tourism and telecom connectivity in undivided Koraput. While interacting with mediapersons, Vaishnaw said, “Undivided Koraput is very beautiful; why should people go to Switzerland? The Railways will cooperate in the development of tourism in the area.” He further said that the youths are dependent on connectivity and he has instructed the Telecom Secretary to immediately frame a scheme to increase connectivity in the area.A number of civil society organistations demanded for halting of the Hirakhand Express for atleast 3-5 minutes at Jeypore railway station, plying of special day train from Jeypore to Bhubaneswar, a special vistadome coach from Jeypore to Vishakapatnam and starting the IT park proposed for Jeypore. As part of his visit, Vaishnaw along with BJP State vice president Bhrugu Boxipatra, Rabi Nayak and Golak Mohapatra travelled to Rayagada by train on Thursday and visited Koraput for the party's programme. The Railway Minister participated in a dance performance of tribal women in Koraput. The Minister also held a roadshow at Koraput, Jeypore and Boriguma.
The Minister tried to prove that he belongs to Odisha as he kept on updating about his visit to the State on his official Twitter handle and wrote all the messages on the microblogging site in Odia.
Vaishnaw launched the four-day programme in the State to aware people of the benefits of various Central schemes. Vaishnaw along with State vice president Boxipatra, Rabi Nayak and Golak Mohapatra also went to Sabara Srikhetra in Koraput. He stopped his vehicle at several places and interacted with the people standing on both sides of the road.