Odisha’s KALIA Makes Saffron Yogi See Red

Bhawanipatna: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday alleged corruption in Odisha government’s KALIA scheme and took potshots at the Naveen Patnaik government over its 17-year rule in the state.

Addressing a rally here, Adityanath made a strong pitch for voting the Narendra Modi back to power at the Centre to realise the vision of a new India and electing the BJP government in Odisha to accelerate the pace of development in the state.

Throughout his speech, he waxed eloquence on Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan for his work in the ministry and in particular talked about the success of the Ujjawala Yojana, saying 12 crore LPF connections have been provided to the poor household in the last four and half years, more that what was achieved since Independence.

He informed that under the PM-Kisan yojana, which promises an assured income of Rs 6000 annually for farmers, the first installment of Rs 2,000 will be directly transferred to the accounts of the beneficiaries on February 24.

“This scheme is a permanent one with earmarked funding in place. The Odisha government’s scheme is not a permanent one and it is riddled with corruption,” he alleged. He did not name the scheme, but it was intended at the KALIA scheme which also targets small, landless and marginal farmers with assured income support.

Questioning the state’s development agenda, Adityanath claimed that his government in UP during its two-and-half-year rule constructed 20 lakh houses under Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana while the Odisha government has constructed only 17 lakh in its 17 year of rule.

Harping on the Modi government’s agenda on development for all, regardless of religion, caste or creed, he said Odisha has a crucial role to play in bringing the Modi government back to power in the 2019 general elections if the benefits of development has to reach out to all. In this regard, he asked the party workers to put up a spirited effort to replicate BJP’s success in the panchayat elections in the upcoming polls.

Drawing attention to the recent terror attack in Pulwama in the Kashmir valley that claimed the lives of 42 CRPF jawans, including two from Odidsha, he said the strong leadership provided by Modi can only stem out terrorism from Jammu and Kashmir.

“We all need to decide that the fight against terrorism is not an individual’s or any party’s fight, it is the nation’s battle against terrorism in which every citizen must pledge to work together under the leadership of Modi,” the UP CM added.