The Naveen Patnaik Government appears to be in a tearing hurry in announcing projects, which are likely to touch lives directly as the regional party is preparing to face both Assembly and general elections in a year.
Mr. Patnaik has declared to build 2,000 meeting halls as part of the Mukhyamantri Sabha Gruha Scheme in western Odisha which is known to be a stronghold of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
The Assembly halls, which are part of the State’s 5T initiative would significantly enhance the social and cultural life of western Odisha region, said Odisha CM. He inaugurated and laid the foundation stones for several projects ₹33.58 crore.
Mr. Patnaik said he had always paid particular attention to the development of western Odisha. “The budget for the Western Odisha Development Council has doubled and the council should take up more programmes in consultation with people’s representatives,” he advised.
“The role of western Odisha is critical in the overall development of the State. The region is developing in agriculture, industry, mining, education, and art and culture. Efforts are underway to promote tourism in the region, including the ongoing transformation work of Maa Samaleswari, Harishankar, and Nrusingnath temples. Steps have been initiated for development other temples and infrastructure in the region,” said Odisha CM.
It is to be noted that the BJP had won good number of MP and MLA seats from the region in 2019 elections. According to political analysts, the Biju Janata Dal is likely to leverage the scheme for mass mobilisation in the ground.
The scheme was relaunched close on the heels of the State Government announcing ₹4,000 crore-‘Ama Odisha Nabin Odisha’ which was intended at augmenting rural infrastructure leading to accelerated growth as well as promote, preserve and protect Jagannath culture and tradition of the State.
As per the State Cabinet’s approval note, the vision of the intervention was to transform Odisha into a modern and aspirational State retaining the essence, soul and spirit of Jagannath culture and spreading it over to the world. It was not a new scheme, but rather a change of nomenclature of the ‘Ama Gaon Ama Bikash’ scheme which was launched just before 2019 elections.
Meanwhile, Opposition political parties criticised the scheme saying the Naveen Patnaik Government was parking the fund in the gram panchayats just before elections. Both Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress termed it as BJD’s election funds. The last State Cabinet had also cleared the establishment of 99 33/11 kV sub-stations and 64 independent lines with an outlay of ₹1,796.73 crore.
Since the first week of June, V.K. Pandian, Private Secretary to Odisha CM, had been touring different districts and announcing projects specific to the districts. Mr. Pandian who was touring districts at the instruction of Mr. Patnaik had reviewed the progress of several development projects and received 18,000 petitions (grievances) during his visit to districts such as Keonjhar, Ganjam, Boudh, Dhenkanal, Angul, Jagatsinghpur and Cuttack. Odisha CM had assured to look into every petition and take action basing on their merits.
Political parties were divided over their speculations if the Naveen Patnaik Government could advance the State election. “Given populist schemes and the speed at which they were announced, it seems the BJD Government was contemplating early election. We in Congress had already started meetings keeping in mind the preparations required to face early elections,” said Bijay Patnaik, former Chief Secretary of Odisha and senior Congress leader. However, top BJP leaders believed that the simultaneous elections could be held next year.
