By Our Correspondent
PADMAPUR/BARGARH: In a direct attack on Union Ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Ashwini Vaishnaw, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday while campaigning at Padmapur in Bargarh for December 5 byepolls, came down heavily on the Centre for the delay in the construction of Bargarh-Nuapada railway line via Padampur.
“During Bijepur by-election in 2018, one Union Minister had claimed that Padampur would be connected with railway line at the earliest. Have you seen any railway station or track in Padampur? They have done nothing in this reagard. Now, two Union Ministers are saying that they will start the work after getting land from the state government. I want to ask them whether they have conducted any survey for the railway project and prepared the DPR. Have they finalized how much land they need in which village? Have they applied for the land acquisition with the state government? They have no answer to these questions,” said the Chief Minister.
“I believe in action rather than words. I will fulfill all my promises to the people of Padampur before the 2024 General and Assembly elections. The BJD government has prepared a manifesto of Rs 1 crore for each panchayat of Padampur and we will finish the work within a year. I will come to you with the list of our works during the 2024 polls,” added the Chief Minister.
The Chief Minister claimed that he had made certain commitments to the people of Bijepur during the 2019 bypoll. The state government has sanctioned Rs 4,000 crore for various projects in the constituency. Bijepur will be hugely benefitted by the Gangadhar Meher Lift Irrigation project, he said.
