Bhubaneswar: With the general elections drawing closer, the Biju Janata Dal and the Bharatiya Jana Party are determined not to lose even the slightest chance to woo the electorate.
Incidentally, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will attend two different programmes in the state on the same day (January 15) –akin to what had been witnessed January 5.
While Modi will launch a slew of development projects worth `1,545 crore in Bolangir, Naveen will inaugurate Krushi Odisha – the annual farmers’ convention, here Tuesday.
Interestingly, this time the top brass of the two parties is all set to address the events at almost the same time between 11am and 11.30 am. The state government had scheduled the meeting for the evening. However, considering Modi’s event, it rescheduled the meeting in the morning. Like last time, the Chief Minister will not be attending the PM’s programme at Bolangir.
As both the CM and the MP have refrained from launching attacks on each other, all eyes are on them as to what they would say.
Both BJP and BJD claim that the two events are government programmes. But, in reality both the parties have engaged themselves in a tug-of-war ahead of the general and the assembly elections in the state.
Senior BJD leader and agriculture minister Sashi Bhusan Behera said, “Like every year, Krushi Odisha -2019 will be observed here tomorrow. The programme has been fixed six months back. It is not exclusively for this year. It is a mere coincidence that the event will happen on the day the Prime Minister will be visiting the state.”
However, BJP spokesperson Sajjan Sharma said, “As the BJD is afraid of Modi, they are organising events on the very days Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits the state. It is only meant to divert attention of people. But they will not succeed and people will give a befitting reply to them.”
Meanwhile, state Congress president Niranjan Patnaik alleged that both the BJD and the BJP are fooling people by making a number of false promises.
When the Prime Minister of the country is standing on a heap of false promises and the Chief Minister of Odisha is doing nothing but enjoying power since more than 18 years, there is no point expecting anything from them, he alleged.
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