Even after 18 years of the BJD Government under the leadership of CM Naveen Patnaik, today Odisha has been termed as the poorest State in the country, said State Congress president Niranjan Patnaik in a meeting organised by Jharsuguda District Congress Committee.
Alleging misutilisation of Government funds by forming Biju Bahini, he said the youths of the State are being misled. The PCC chief also targeted the Naveen Patnaik Government for splurging on publicity campaigns and advertisements.
He revealed that as per directions of Congress president Rahul Gandhi, the Odisha unit has started a public awareness campaign to come nearer to the poor farmers of the State. In his address, Patnaik while blaming the Modi Government for its various unpopular projects like GST and demonitisation etc, said that the financial status of the country has become unstable under the NDA Government.
Patnaik said that the victory of the Congress in the recent elections in five States is due to its manifesto to waive the loans of the farmers. He declared that in case Congress comes to power in Odisha in 2019 election, all the problems of the farmers will be sorted out and they will be given free solar water pumps.
The meeting was attended by AICC secretary Mastal Wali, Jharsuguda MLA Naba Kishore Das, former Chief Minister Hemananda Biswal, former Ministers Kisore Chandra Patel, Santosh Singh Saluja, Congress leader Dr Hameed Husain, Jharsuguda Zilla Parishad president Laxminarayan Patel, Pintu Padi and Sarita Agarwal, among others.