Centre tried to resolve the Mahanadi issue, but the Odisha government did not cooperate: Narendra Modi

Cuttack:26/5/18: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday hit out at the opposition unity saying people involved in the big scam are now coming together to save their family, not to save the country.

Addressing a huge public gathering at Bali Yatra Ground on the bank of river Mahanadi in Cuttack on completion of four years of the BJP-led government at the Centre Modi said, “Our government is running on “janmat” (people’s mandate) and not through “Janpath.”

He said the people of the country are watching how the government is fighting against the black money and corruption. In these four years of rule, now 125 crore Indian believe that the country can change for the best. “Development, good governance is good politics for us,” he said.

Speaking about sanitation, Modi said in 2014 there were 6 crores toilets in the country. However, 7.5 crore toilets have been constructed in the past four years. Besides, remaining 18,000 villages in the country have been electrified. Now four crore households have free electricity.

“Due to our commitment for zero tolerance towards corruption, four former Chief Ministers were arrested and are now behind the bars,” Modi said.

Targeting the state government on river Mahanadi water controversy, the PM said the state government is confusing poor people and farmers in the state. “The Centre tried to resolve the Mahanadi issue, but the state government did not cooperate. Half of the water of Mahanadi goes to sea, the state government admitted in the assembly. Why the lower Indra dam project is still halted even after 20 years back,” he questioned.

Speaking about the healthcare situation, Modi said the healthcare service is alarming in the state. It is not clear what government is doing.

Stating that the state government has left the farmer to suffer, he said his government has set a target to double the farmers’ income by 2022.

Speaking about law and order situation, Modi said the Naxal menace has come down in the country. The number of Left Wing Extremism (LWE) affected districts has come down from 126 to 90 districts. “Our journey has not ended in four years, we have a long path to cover,” he said.

The Prime Minister further said that President Ram Nath Kovind, Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu and he himself come from a very humble and poor background.

The Prime Minister also said that in last four years, the investigating agencies have carried out searches at over 3,000 locations and unearthed over Rs 53,000 crore of the undisclosed money.

Modi claimed that the government even seized properties over Rs 35,000 crore after the Benami Properties Bill was passed by the government.