Sambalpur, Feb. 22: Rebel BJD Rajya Sabha member Pyari Mohan Mohapatra today went all out to woo people of western Odisha and said his party, the Odisha Jan Morcha, would fight to set up a high court bench and office of the western Odisha Development Council here.
The Morcha will also take up the issue of Sambalpuri language and fight for its inclusion in the official languages’ list. Addressing the Kranti Samavesh at the PHED ground here, Mohapatra said: “If the Odisha Jan Morcha comes to power, all the villages will be converted into gram panchayats. Villagers will decide the development works of their villages.”
Flaying the Naveen government for corruption, Mohapatra said his outfit would fulfil the dreams of Biju Patnaik.
Criticising Naveen for not being able to speak Odia, Mohapatra said: “I apologise to you as I could not make him speak Odia.”
He said: “The people of the state had supported the BJD, and as a result, the party could win 103 seats in 2009 election. In the state council meeting in 2010, I openly criticised Naveen for not fulfilling the people’s expectations. A conspiracy was hatched against me after that.”
He said: “The government is trying to fool the farmers with mobile phones. The mobile (phones) cannot bring any development. The state and central governments should provide bonus to farmers.”
Appealing people to maintain equal distance from the Congress and the BJD, Mohapatra said the Rs 4,000 crore for concrete road in villages would lead to corruption. “The BJD will only embezzle the fund for the next elections,” he said.
“If the Morcha comes to power, it will provide rice without any cost to the people enlisted under the old-age pension, handicapped and people under Antodaya category.”
Mohapatra reached the ground in a rally, which started from the Samaleswari temple of the city. Around 15,000 supporters had gathered for the convention at Sambalpur. Earlier, the Morcha had organised such meetings in Bhubaneswar, Bhawanipatna, Baripada and Jaipur.