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By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, April 2, 2019: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday blasted Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and his two-decade rule in the state for keeping the state backward.

He was addressing a rally of Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) rally in Kalahandi. Modi targeted Naveen Patnaik for keeping Odisha backward as the rest of the country progressed.

Narendra Modi said, “Since last two decades, chit fund and mining scams have been growing under the Biju Janata Dal[BJD] rule. The BJD government has kept you [people] away from Ayushman Yojana and PM Kisan Yojana.”

“You need a mining mafia or chowkidar?” Narendra Modi questioned.

The crowd responded to PM Modi’s question with a loud cheer to which he claimed that he was elected by the people who voted for him.

PM Modi also said he was serving the nation without a holiday.

In the Bhawanipatna rally, Narendra Modi brought out pointers against the BJD government in Odisha.

Focusing on the schemes of the central government, PM Modi said, “Homes have been given to eight lakh families in Odisha and 24 lakh families have been provided with electricity. Forty lakh women have been given gas connections under Ujwala Yojana. We have constructed 50 lakh swachalayas in Odisha. It’s wrong to say Modi did all this; it’s your vote which has done this. You, people, are behind this success story. Due to your support, I am able to deliver all this.”

“The government here is not moving at all. We have allotted 30 per cent fund for tribal development. We have formed Adivasi ministries. If in 2014, our government was formed in Odisha, we would have delivered more speedily. Like Atal Bihari Vajpayeeji formed Adivasi ministry, I have formed fisheries ministry. In 2019 Odisha will vote for change.”

Seeking votes for both state and Lok Sabha elections, he said, “Odisha will make Delhi stronger. I want to make a serious allegation against the BJD and Congress party. They used the poor as a vote bank and ditched them later. Due to this, people like Dana Majhi had to carry dead bodies. Will you forgive those who looted poor people? It is time people vote for change in the state.”