With the general elections approaching fast, politics is being played in every matter of public concern in the State. The latest political issue is over the recent low-pressure-triggered rains which left more than 600 families homeless and resulted in loss of paddy crop in thousands of acres of land in the districts of Gajapati, Rayagada, Koraput, Kalahandi and Nuapada.
Adverse media publicity on this front forced Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to rush to the State Secretariat for a videoconference with district officials.
With Minister of Revenue and Disaster Management Surjya Narayan Patro taken ill, the Chief Minister sent two of his Ministers, Kalpataru Das of Panchayati Raj and Pratap Kesari Deb of Food Supplies and Consumer Welfare to undertake filed visits to assess the plight of farmers.
Das and Deb along with School and Mass Education Minister Rabi Narayan Nanda had to go inaccessible pockets of Koraput district by motorcycles and meet the affected farmers. With the opposition parties crying hoarse over the Government’s apathy towards the hapless farmers, the Chief Minister obviously wanted his Ministers to reach the farmers first.
Now, Pradesh Congress Committee president Jayadev Jena has announced that a delegation of his party would also visit the farmers in distress. The Congress has already demanded compensation for the affected farmers.
Thanks to the elections ahead, both the ruling and opposition parties are out to help farmers and poor tribals hit by the incessant rains on June 13 and 14.
The BJP is also likely to send a team to the affected areas in a day or two.