Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Odisha Governor Raghubar Das, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik during the inauguration of IIM campus in Sambalpur
Credit: PTI Photo
Sambalpur (Odisha): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday asserted that his guarantee was the 'last hope of helpless people across the country' and assured the people of Odisha that the BJP was committed to the overall development of the state and its people, in a strong election pitch ahead of Lok Sabha and assembly polls.
Modi also noted that awarding the Bharat Ratna to LK Advani was an honour for the crores of BJP workers and leaders across the country and said the former deputy prime minister challenged dynasty politics and changed the identity of the party from being a 'politically untouchable' to the largest political platform in the world.
In his first political rally in the state since 2019, he said the Congress has all along used people in the state as a 'vote bank' whereas the BJP government was giving prominence to tribal development and the budget has been increased for them in the last 10 years.
"It is the BJP which promoted Odisha’s daughter Droupadi Murmu to the post of the President. The entire world was listening to her address to the Parliament three days ago.
"But it was the Congress and its allies who tried their best against her and even insulted her. It was not just an insult to Droupadi Murmu, but the entire tribal community and the people of Odisha," he said.
Modi's last public meeting in the state was in April 2019 in Kendrapara in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls and assembly elections in the state, which were held simultaneously. The prime minister visited the state thrice since then but did not address a rally.
Earlier, Modi inaugurated and laid the foundation stones for projects worth over Rs 68,000 crore in Odisha. Besides inaugurating the 400-crore permanent campus of IIM, Sambalpur, he unveiled several infrastructure projects in various sectors, such as power, roads and railways, in the state.
'Today is a significant occasion for the development journey of Odisha as development projects worth nearly Rs 70,000 crore are launched,' Modi said after the inauguration of the IIM campus.
"It is Modi’s guarantee that all the people of the state will have pucca houses and there will be a rise in the income of farmers, fishermen, work for the youths and empowerment of women and tribals," he said at the public rally.
The Prime Minister said his guarantee was the "guarantee on execution of guarantees as his government is the last hope of helpless people across the country." Modi also outlined his government’s contribution towards the development of Odisha. He said four crore poor families have been provided with 'pucca houses' during the last 10 years and the budget provision has also been made for giving two crore pucca houses to the people.
Around 25 lakh people of Odisha have received pucca ghar. "You go back to your village and inform all that Modi has guaranteed to provide pucca houses to those who do not have," Modi said.
He said as many as 55 lakh women from Odisha have benefited from the PM Ujjwala scheme and 40 lakh farmers from the state were covered under the PM Kissan Nidhi scheme under which at least Rs 30,000 has been provided to each beneficiary.
He said the previous government procured paddy worth Rs 36,000 crore from Odisha while within 10 years, the BJP government from 2014 to 2024 procured the same paddy worth Rs 1.10 lakh crore.
He said the BJP government is working to make the lives of people easier and increase the income of every individual.
In the last 10 years, electricity has been provided to the areas which were still in the dark since Independence. Electricity has also reached 25 lakh families in Odisha.
The BJP also brought LED revolution and now the party’s efforts are on to ensure that the electricity bill of the poor becomes zero. Therefore, a rooftop solar power scheme has been announced for 1 crore families, the PM pointed out.
Similarly, he said the BJP government is taking all steps to uplift the fishing community. The government continues to lay emphasis on improving the lives of fish farmers, he said.
On women empowerment, the Prime Minister said that the Centre also extended the benefits of the Ayushman Bharat health insurance scheme to ASHA and Anganwadi workers who will get medical care services up to Rs 5 lakh.
On Advani, he said along with former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee, his deputy Advani ji also connected India's democracy to all-inclusive and nationalist ideologies, in a bid to boost the morale of BJP workers and leaders.
He said Bharat Ratna to Advani is an honour to the ideology of 'nation first'.
"This is a recognition of the party’s ideologies and the struggle of crores of party workers. This is also an honour to the party and its workers which has become the world’s largest party from a two-MP party," he said.
"Advani continuously fought to get democracy out of one party's grasp and guided everyone. He challenged dynasty politics and connected India's democracy to all-inclusive and nationalist ideologies," he said.