Free Ayodhya pilgrimage for 5 lakh people: Himanta Biswa Sarma
MALKANGIRI: Playing the Ram Mandir card to woo voters, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday promised that the party will arrange free pilgrimage for at least five lakh people from Odisha to Ayodhya if the BJP is voted to power in the state.
Launching his campaign from Kalimela block in Malkangiri district with a sizeable Bengali refugee population, Sarma said he has decided to give a free ride to one lakh people from his state to Ayodhya for the darshan of Ram Lalla.
“Being a chief minister of a small state like Assam, if I can afford to send one lakh people to Ayodhya then a big state like Odisha could easily facilitate free travel for five lakh people. Similar arrangements will be put in place to facilitate the visit of at least five lakh people from Odisha to Ayodhya,” Sarma said.
Taking a dig at the BJD government for not giving the Bengali settlements the status of revenue villages with proper names, the Assam chief minister said, “I came to know that Bengalis who have been rehabilitated in the district after the 1971 Bangladesh war are still living in villages without a name. Their habitations have been assigned numbers like MV-82 and MV-83 like cell numbers in a jail.
“If a government of my party came to power in the state, it is my guarantee that your settlements will be given the status of revenue village with a proper name. I will take up the matter with the new chief minister,” Sarma said.
Incidentally, Sarma was addressing the rally at the Bengali-dominated MPV-82 village in Lugel panchayat of Kalimela block under the Malkangiri Assembly segment.
Expressing concern that the state government has not bothered to appoint Bengali teachers in schools, Sarma said the New Education Policy mandated to provide school education till Class V in mother tongue. The principle is applicable for tribal students.
Taking a jibe at Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Sarma said, “I heard that Patnaik loves only VK Pandian not the people of Odisha and he wants to give him everything. Things will change once BJP comes to power.”
Lambasting the BJD government for the high unemployment in the state, Sarma said the BJP government will give jobs to three lakh youths on the basis of merit. “If the neighbouring Chhattisgarh government can give Rs 3,100 per quintal of paddy as MSP, why the farmers of Odisha will get Rs 2,100 per quintal?” he asked.
Sarma also addressed a public meeting at Mathili and Khallikote.