BARPALI (BARGARH) : With the campaigning for by-election to Bijepur Assembly constituency entering the last leg, the star campaigners of BJD and BJP landed here to address the public meetings on Tuesday. While Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik led the BJD team, Union Ministers Smriti Irani and Dharmendra Pradhan took the centre stage for BJP.
With the campaigning for by-election to Bijepur Assembly constituency entering the last leg, the star campaigners of BJD and BJP landed here to address the public meetings on Tuesday. While Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik led the BJD team, Union Ministers Smriti Irani and Dharmendra Pradhan took the centre stage for BJP.In his brief address at Badgaon meeting, Naveen paid tributes to litterateur Gangadhar Meher and freedom fighter late Bhagirathi Pattnaik and heaped praise on the popularity of Subal Sahu. He said it was his Government which had moved the Centre to reduce the GST on handloom which led to its reduction from 18 per cent to five per cent which would be withdrawn completely. It was followed by an appeal to vote for BJD candidate Ritarani Sahu.
On the other hand, the two Union Ministers, speaking at two meetings in Barpali, ripped apart the BJD led State Government for failing to deliver. Pointing out that it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who recognised Jitendra Haripal, the singer of popular Sambalpuri folk song ‘Rangabati, Rangabati’, and Sambalpuri poet Haldhar Nag, Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan impressed upon the farmers that they would get `2000 per quintal of paddy as minimum support price from next kharif season. He said if Naveen had respect for Subal Sahu, as claimed by him, he could have convened an all-party meeting and ensured win of Ritarani Sahu unopposed. He also charged BJD of undermining Gangadhar Meher by naming piped LI point project estimated at `1250 crore without budgetary sanction.
Going all out against Naveen, Union Handloom Minister Smriti Irani said leading a comfortable life, he was unaware of the plight of poor of Bijepur. The BJD Government wants the people of Odisha to stay deprived so that they can remain in power, she added. She recalled the attack on former Union Minister of Hanadloom Santosh Gangwar by the BJD during his visit to Bargarh and said Gangwar had come to ascertain the plight of the weavers but was refrained from doing so.
Rattling out numerous schemes launched by the Centre for welfare of weavers, she said the BJD Government did not evince interest to implement those. She also elaborated on the health care schemes made available by the Modi Government and urged the electorate to vote for BJP candidate Ashok Panigrahi in the election on February 24.
While several senior leaders of both BJD and the BJP spoke ahead of their star campaigners, it was Dharmendra Pradhan who stole the show at Barpali after he drove into a tea stall at Gandhi Chowk and had tea besides interacting with the locals. He also made it a point that BJP workers stay away from the spot and ended winning a lot of hearts.Meanwhile, the Congress seems to have lost the race with the party holding no public meeting for its candidate Pranaya Sahu on the day.