Keonjhar: “Are you all happy?,” asked Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Majhi on Monday while addressing a public gathering organised to felicitate him in Keonjhar’s Jhumpura and said he is the people’s Chief Minister and would always remain close to them.
“Happiness is an opportunity that does not come very often and when it comes, one should enjoy it with his friends and relatives. We have today got an opportunity to be happy and we should celebrate,” he said and recollected his childhood days when he used to visit the weekly market at Jhumpura with his mother every Wednesday.
On the second day of a two-day visit to his hometown Keonjhar, Majhi held a road show before attending the public meeting. He paid his obeisance in Maa Tarini, Baladev Jew and Lord Jagannath temples and also tribal leader Dharanidhara Naik, known for Keonjhar uprising during the British rule.
Alleging that the BJD government tried to kill him in a bomb blast in Keonjhar’s Mandua, the chief minister said he was saved because of God’s blessings and people’s love. “I have nothing to fear when Maa Tarini, Maa Durga, Lord Baladev Jew and Lord Jagannath are with me. Give me suggestions and share your problems by meeting me or calling me over phone. I am the people’s CM and I have no problem in meeting anyone. Come to Bhubaneswar if required. I will meet people directly,” he said.
Stating that the state’s development will always top his priorities, he said as promised by the BJP during the elections, the farmers would be paid the minimum support price (MSP) of Rs 3,100 per quintal of paddy from the Kharif harvest.
He wanted to know from the SHG members whether they were earning Rs 20,000 every month as claimed by the previous BJD government and reiterated that Rs 50,000 will be paid to every eligible woman under Subhadra Yojana.
The Chief Minister said Keonjhar has rich natural resources and there is no shortage of funds because of double-engine government but he needed people’s support for development of the area.
Asserting that his government would not allow the mine mafias to loot the district, Majhi said, “We will build a golden Keonjhar, a developed Keonjhar if we have the determination and tenacity to do it.”