Bargarh: BJD Supremo and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik along with his close aide V K Pandian today conducted marathon campaigns at different places in western Odisha including his second seat Kantabanji in Balangir district.
The Chief Minister addressed large gatherings at Bangomunda, Muribahal, Bolangir and Bargarh throughout the day. Meeting held here was a massive one.
Addressing the gathering, Naveen said the people have no need to pay electricity bills from July this year.
Hitting out Opposition BJP and Congress, the BJD Chief said, “The opposition is lying. BJP leaders are crying crocodile tears. Vote for me and BJD candidates… Bless me.”
He spoke about the government’s flagship schemes, including Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY), Mission Shakti, Mamata Scheme, LAccMI bus services, Yuba ‘o’ Scholarship scheme for students, school transformation under 5T, Kalia yojana for farmers and Madhu Babu Pension Scheme, among others.
Naveen’s posers, like if the scheme were good or not and he and his party are good, were met with thunderous applause from the audience. He urged people to vote for BJD.
Shri Pandian said that the Prime Minister has visited Odisha after five years. He had visited the state in 2019 and now in 2024, Patnaik said, hinting that the PM is visiting the State only during election time.
“The PM had promised to double paddy MSP. Is he doubling the paddy MSP?,” he asked.
The Prime Minister is saying that the Ayushman Bharat scheme has not been implemented in the state. But you people will continue to get free health services under the state’s BSKY scheme, the BJD leader said.
Targeting Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, 5T Chief said Shri Pradhan has disrespected the CM. He is fighting the election climbing on the shoulders of the Prime Minister. He will lose his deposits, if he will fight without the support and backing of PM Modi. “We will win 90 percent seats in the first phase election to be held on May 13,” claimed Shri Pandian.
In a statement, Shri Pandian claimed that Odisha is ahead of Gujarat in various parameters. BJD Leader shared statistics, comparing various indices of Gujarat and Odisha, with a comment, “Look who wants to make Odisha number one.”
The BJD leader said that it was ironic that even after two-and-a-half decades of the BJP rule in Gujarat, the situation as compared to Odisha was quite dismal. In terms of malnutrition (children under 5 years who are underweight), he said, the rate is 30 per cent in Odisha whereas it is 40 per cent in Gujarat.
Shri Pandian cited the NHFS-5 (National Health Family Survey) data to say that the prevalence of anaemia among women was 65 per cent in Odisha, while it was 69 per cent in Gujarat, whereas 64 per cent of children in Odisha were anemic, but the percentage was 80 in Gujarat.
He said Odisha fared much better than Gujarat in terms of immunisation, with 90 per cent of children having been vaccinated, compared to only 76.3 per cent in the western state.
“In terms of vaccination, while Odisha has seen more than 90 per cent of its population vaccinated, in Gujarat it is in a very pitiable state of record of 76.3 per cent,” it stated.
In terms of bank account penetration for women in both states, the document mentioned that Odisha has over 86 per cent of women who have a bank account, while in Gujarat, only 70 per cent of women have a bank account.
With reference to women having mobile phones, the document showed that Odisha is ahead with more than 50 per cent of women possessing mobile phones, while in Gujarat the number is behind at 48.8 percent.
In terms of per capita debt, while Odisha has about Rs 22,000, Gujarat has almost triple the per capita debt, close to Rs. 60,000, the document mentioned.
As per the RBI handbook shared by Pandian, the primary enrolment ratio in schools is almost 98 percent in Odisha, while in Gujarat it is just around 90 percent. The secondary enrolment ratio also sees Odisha leading at more than 80, while Gujarat is at 75.
Earlier today, BJD leader VK Pandian targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his promise of doubling the minimum support price for paddy
The BJD leader said that Odisha will be the number one state in the country and is already on that path.