Bhubaneswar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will visit Odisha on February 7 to dedicate IOCL’S Paradip refinery to the nation, will also visit the state again on February 21 to address a farmers’ rally in drought-hit Bargarh.
“The Prime Minister is concerned about farmers’ condition. He has special attachment with Odisha. Therefore, he is undertaking two visits to the state in a fortnight,” BJP general secretary and Odisha in-charge Arun Singh told reporters here.
Modi will address the Kisan Sammelan at Bargarh, Singh said adding he would also interact with farmers and listen to their problems.
The rally at Bargarh is part of BJP’s plan to organise four mega Kisan Sammelans in Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh, he said.
A large number of farmers from across the state are expected to join the Bargarh rally where the party would highlight various schemes launched by the BJP government at the Centre for peasants’ benefit, he said.
A number of programmes including Soil Health Cards Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Sinchai Yojana and Pradhan Mantri Crop Insurance Scheme have been launched by the Centre to safeguard the interests of farmers and make them self-reliant, he said.
Farmers, poor people and youths occupy the central point of the prime minister’s attention, Singh added.
The proposed second visit of the prime minister to Odisha assumes significance as BJP has been accusing the BJD government in Odisha of failing to tackle farmers’ problems which had led to alleged suicides by many peasants, mostly in western region of the state.
PTI