Panchayat polls to be held in February next are now on the top of the agenda of Chief Minister and BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik, who has been on whirlwind tours of the State these days and is on a project inauguration and stone-laying spree.
Though other parties too have geared up for the rural elections, the BJD, now enjoying an edge over the principal opposition parties the Congress and the BJP, seems to be walking extra miles.
Winning the poll is weighing so high in the mind of the ruling party that it terminated the Winter Session of the Assembly prematurely so as to ward off the Opposition from taking any mileage from crying foul over several sensitive issues and put an end to the rallies and demonstrations by several organisations, especially farmers and teachers, which are at this point of time quite unsavoury for the Government and could lead to a fall in its popularity rating.
Panchayat polls are crucial since it ensures grassroots presence of a party. Besides, the general elections are due in 2019, just 2 years after the rural election. In such a context, for acquiring a maximum number of ZP seats, which it has done in the last election, the BJD looks to be slugging its guts out. The State wide tour of the CM is thus well-timed as it would give rich political dividends during the February elections.
The Government cut short the current Assembly session barely it was half way into its scheduled duration, to get enough time to concentrate on the rural polls. Even as the black shawl stripping of women participants at a meeting of the CM in Sundarhgarh kicked off a row and put a question mark on the very slogan of the ruling BJD of ‘Maa Ku Sammman’ (respect to mother), but the CM feigning ignorance of the act by police, ordered an inquiry to wriggle out of the mess. Nevertheless, this could hardly act as a dampener for the CM’s tours across the State.
With an eye on the rural development, Patnaik has sanctioned Rs1,000 crore to boost rural connectivity, electrification, and several other infrastructure building under the Gopabandhu Gramin Yojana. Despite the constant allegations of the BJP and Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan that the Odisha Government is hijacking the Central funds for rural development and is not able to spend them for vested interest, Patnaik has managed to build his image by announcing that that Centre has slashed its funding for rural belt and hence, the State Government has launched the Gopabandhu Gramin Yojana out of its own means to boost rural infrastructure.
Patniak has also managed to turn the heat on the Centre pertaining to the hardships of the people in the rural areas, especially of farmers, and SHG women, due to demonetisation. The CM has written four letters back to back urging the Prime Minster to take various steps for easing the note ban woes in the villages. Most importantly, he asked the Centre to raise the limit of withdrawal for the rural poor and farmers so that the transfer of cash to their accounts under various social security schemes could be made hassle-free.
The Government also organised a meeting of the SHG women and announced loan to them at 1 per cent interest to keep enjoying the support of the women folk in the rural belt. Most recently, the Government also hiked the DA of the Government employees by another 7 per cent, to woo them ahead of the poll.