As farmers in Odisha’s southern and coastal areas await authorities compensation for extreme crop injury suffered throughout unseasonal rain, their fields have become a battleground for a political showdown between leaders of the BJP and the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), igniting the latter’s hope for a revival.
The crop losses pressured former Chief Minister and Chief of the Opposition Naveen Patnaik to make his first district visits since his celebration’s loss within the simultaneous polls in June whereas CM Mohan Majhi and his Cupboard additionally reached out to farmers as per a “hurriedly ready” schedule.
Unseasonal rain between December 20 and 28 broken harvest-ready crops in 11 of Odisha’s 30 districts, ranging from Ganjam and Gajapati within the south to Balasore within the northern coastal components. The incessant downpour flattened standing crops and left many paddy fields inundated. Official sources stated the unseasonal rain broken standing crops throughout 2.91 lakh hectares of land, affecting almost 7 lakh farmers. The state authorities additionally declared a “state calamity” to launch compensation from the state catastrophe response fund.
Though the state authorities has directed district collectors to evaluate the injury and guaranteed compensation, the scenario has left a number of farmers distressed. Whereas Majhi chaired a overview assembly to take inventory of the scenario on December 28, an official press launch on the assembly didn’t make point out of any scheduled district visits by the CM or his Cupboard colleagues.
However moments after the BJD on December 28 introduced Patnaik’s go to to Ganjam, essentially the most populous district and Patnaik’s house turf, on December 30, a authorities notification was circulated saying a district go to by Majhi, Deputy CMs Pravati Parida and Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo, and Cupboard Ministers Krushna Chandra Patra and Pradeep Bal Samanta the next day.
Thought of a BJD stronghold till earlier this yr, the BJD suffered resounding defeats in Ganjam district’s Lok Sabha and Meeting seats throughout the simultaneous elections. However Patnaik’s visits, the primary in recent times, evoked a large response from the general public. Majhi, alternatively, was accompanied by native MLAs of the ruling BJP and district officers throughout his visits.
The BJD used Patnaik’s go to to not solely criticise the BJP but in addition try to spice up its assist base. Whereas listening to from the distressed farmers, Patnaik inspired them to register their grievances with the state authorities whereas attacking the BJP for failing to supply ample warnings in regards to the rain and the poor response from officers. BJD insiders claimed crowds that gathered for Patnaik’s go to have been a sign of his reputation, its current poor electoral performances however: the BJD misplaced 12 of the 13 Meeting segments in Ganjam within the 2024 polls, down from 12 in 2019.
Patnaik’s go to, nonetheless, was ridiculed by senior BJP leaders who stated he had not made the visits whereas in energy. “After ruling the state for a number of years, he (Patnaik) has leased out his authorities to somebody from exterior the state (referring to long-time non-public secretary V Okay Pandian, initially from Tamil Nadu). It created anger among the many individuals who gave him a befitting reply. He was now pressured to go to paddy fields, which he has by no means completed earlier,” stated Patra, the state meals provides and shopper welfare minister.
Unfazed by the criticism, the BJD introduced Patnaik’s visits to different affected districts resembling Puri, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, and Kendrapara on December 31. Senior BJD chief Ganeswar Behera stated the BJP was “jealous” and “involved” in regards to the big public response throughout Patnaik’s district visits.
Majhi additionally made veiled assaults in opposition to Patnaik, saying those that as soon as lived in “ivory towers” have been now “pressured to go to villages”. “It’s due to the type of functioning of the BJP authorities within the state. They’re frightened over the best way our authorities is working for the folks and to make Odisha a developed state,” Majhi stated at a programme in Bhubaneswar on Thursday.
Hours later, Patnaik wrote a letter to the CM requesting him to revive confidence amongst distressed farmers. He additionally sought ample and well timed compensation for them. “The farmers and their households are in extreme misery. The rains have precipitated in depth injury to each paddy and non-paddy crops throughout the harvesting interval. This sort of scenario has not occurred within the current previous. They acknowledged that they weren’t conscious of the depth of the rains as the federal government advisory was not issued on time. In addition to, at many locations the survey of crop injury has not but been completed,” Patnaik wrote.
Writing that essentially the most disturbing and unlucky a part of the catastrophe was the “suicide of farmers”, Patnaik stated that “the boldness of the farmer is shattered”. Citing Odisha’s proneness to pure disasters, Patnaik stated the BJD would proceed to demand particular class standing for the state, saying the tag would have benefited the farmers.
With the BJD dealing with the problem of conserving its flock collectively whereas within the Opposition, celebration insiders stated Patnaik would possibly tour all of the districts in common intervals given the optimistic response up to now. These visits may also cease BJD employees from switching to the BJP, they stated.
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