Amid a political brawl between the BJD and the BJP over farmers' issues, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar slammed the Odisha government on Sunday during a visit to Padampur in Bargarh district ahead of the crucial bypoll scheduled for December 5.
Tomar refuted the ruling party's claims that the Centre was delaying payments under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) for farmers. Tomar claimed that BJD is playing the blame game to divert people's attention.
"The Centre has already made funds available for the Fasal Bima Yojana. The State government is responsible for soliciting bids for the scheme's implementation. Following that, the State government could have conducted a survey on crop loss and demanded compensation," Tomar said while campaigning for the BJP in the Padampur by-election.
"Under the PM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana, the Centre has extended financial assistance of Rs6000 to each farmer." The entire fund has already been released; now it is time to put pressure on the Odisha government not to keep the funds meant for farmers. The state government did not follow the rules and continued to blame the Centre to divert public attention. "This kind of neglect would not have occurred if the BJP had ruled in Odisha and had a dual engine in place at both the state and federal levels," the minister lamented.
Tomar urged people to vote in large numbers for BJP candidate Pradip Purohit in the upcoming by-election. "Purohit's victory will be a clear indication that the BJD's days are numbered, and the BJP will come out on top in the State in the coming days," Tomar concluded. Meanwhile, in response to Tomar's statements, the BJD stated that both union ministers - Tomar and Ashwini Vaishnaw - are purposefully misrepresenting facts.
"The statements made by the two union ministers are false. They are purposefully misrepresenting facts. Crop loss assistance is provided by insurance companies, not the state government," according to BJD leader Prasanna Acharya.
