Now Making News, The Gangadhar Meher Irrigation Project
With the Bijepur by-election becoming a battle of prestige for both the ruling party and the BJP, accusations and counter allegations have been flying thick and fast from both ends to pull each other down, the latest being in connection with the Gangadhar Meher Lift irrigation project, that has been declared by the state government for Bijepur constituency.
Considering the fact that Bijepur is one of the most drought-prone areas in Bargarh district, the state government recently declared an irrigation project in this area. But the project drew a lot of flak from the opposition with BJP leader Pradeep Purohit calling a press meet seeking clarification from the ruling party regarding the authenticity of the project since there is no budgetary provision for it.
In the meet, Purohit said there is no such budgetary provision for Gangadhar Meher Lift Irrigation Project. “This appears to be a fake declaration by the ruling party to get support of voters for the upcoming by-election.’
The ruling party was quick to react and in another press meet, Minister and BJD spokesperson Pratap Jena clarified that the necessary budget provision has already been made for the project and it will most likely be out on December 12th, in the supplementary budget. .jpg)
Picture Courtesy: pragativadi.com
“Our honorable Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik believes in work, not words, which is generally the practice of the saffron party,” he further added.
Meanwhile, talking to MCL post the BJD press meet, state general secretary of BJP Bhrugu Buxipatra said, “This is an after-thought of the ruling party, after our party raised questions. This is not the first time the ruling party has declared projects without budget provision. Like three months back, the ruling partyhad declared a ‘Tribal Council Board’ in the state for their development.But even till now,there is no budget allocationfor that said project. So, this is an impact of the question raised by our party that they are allocating a budget for the Gangadhar Meher Lift Irrigation project.”
He further said, “At the end of the day, our objective is public development. And, so I hope they are genuinely concerned about the project and sanction budget for it as well.”.jpg)
Picture Courtesy: YouTube
The Bijepur by-poll has been necessitated after the death of sitting Congress MLA Subal Sahu. It may also be noted that after BJP’s Bargarh district president Narayan Sahu resigned from the saffron party and joined the BJD, giving a jolt to the saffron party, Bijepur block president Radheshyam Mohapatra on Saturday resigned from his post ahead of the by-election. However, he has said he will continue working for the party.
Banner and Feature Image Courtesy: Deccan Chronicle
