Bhubaneswar, Feb. 6: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik has loosened the government’s purse strings once again. This time, the chief minister has doled out money to develop towns, a move that reveals Naveen’s focus on civic polls that are expected to be held towards the middle of this year.

Though the date of urban polls is yet to be announced, Naveen today said that kalyan mandaps (marriage venues) would be set up in all the urban bodies. Besides, high-mast lights will also be installed in all urban centres. The government has earmarked Rs 87 crore to undertake the development work and asked the officials of the urban development department to implement it immediately. The projects will be executed by the respective urban local bodies.

Official sources said the government had planned to spend nearly Rs 67 crore under the scheme to set up kalyan mandaps and the rest Rs 20 crore will go towards installation of high-mast lights. Under the scheme, special funds will be provided to 37 municipalities and 63 Notified Area Councils to construct kalyan mandaps.

Kalyan mandaps are rented out by the urban bodies at a nominal fee to organise social functions such as marriage and other cultural events.

According to the provision, Rs 35 lakh will be provided to the Notified Area Councils and Rs 70 lakh to the municipalities for this purpose. “With the construction of kalyan mandaps, the party as well as the government will able to connect to a larger number of people,” said a senior official. The BJD leaders also admitted that construction of kalyan mandaps would be of immense help for the party to consolidate its vote bank.

For installation of the high-mast light, the government has earmarked Rs 20 crore. Each of the three municipal corporations — Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Berhampur — will get 11 such lights for installation. Similarly, the municipalities will get four lights each and two each have been allocated for Notified Area Council areas. The announcement came two days after the chief minister had announced that Rs 10,000 grant to each urban clubs of the state to take up welfare programmes and sports activities under the Biju Yuva Sashaktikaran Yojana.

To woo urban voters, Naveen had earlier this week announced that Rs 150 crore would be spent on construction of concrete roads in all the municipalities. Nearly 500km roads will be developed under this scheme.

“We also have other plans for the urban areas. It includes setting up bus stands in each urban area,” said a senior official.

However, the Opposition Congress and the BJP termed Naveen’s move as an election gimmick to influence voters.

Former BJP state unit president Suresh Pujari said: “Naveen Patnaik government is scared of facing a poll. They are announcing one scheme after another to woo voters. However, it will not give them the desired result.”

Opposition leader Bhupinder Singh said the BJD wanted to come back to power at any cost. “This motive has forced them to distribute freebies to the people. We are not against development. However, they just want to befool the people ahead of the election,” he said while accusing the government of ignoring the interest of farmers.