At a time when the Congress is claiming agrarian distress as one of the key reasons for the BJP’s debacle in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, Odisha Chief Minister and BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik on Friday restructured the ‘Biju Krushak Janata Dal’ (BKJD) ahead of the 2019 polls.
Patnaik appointed party senior leader and MP Prasanna Acharya as the new president of the farmers’ wing and Health Minister Pratap Jena as its secretary general.
Earlier on December 12, the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC), after its first manifesto committee meeting, had announced that the party would waive all farm loans and extend financial assistance to farmers in the State for five years if it comes to power in 2019.
OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik had said if voted to power, the party would also provide solar pumps to help farmers with irrigation along with financial assistance for five years.