In Odisha, Narendra Modi hints at 2019 win: ‘Will return to inaugurate project three years later’

“Whenever I go to inaugurate a project, I ask when will you start production?” Modi said, minutes after the inauguration. “They (officials) told me it will take 36 months to complete the project”.

“I assure the people of Talcher and Odisha that after 36 months, I will, myself, come to dedicate it to the people,” he said.

Modi repeated this thrice in the course of two speeches, first while addressing officials at the plant and then at the public meeting.

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Patnaik thanked the Centre for contributing to the “long-term demand by the people”. He said he hoped the plant would help Odisha, a rice-growing state which presently uses “68 kg per hectare of agricultural land, which is half the national average”. Patnaik said, “Odisha’s farmers had to wait for urea from Andhra, Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra… which leads to delays and scarcity.”

At the public meeting, Modi also threw some jabs at Patnaik with respect to not only healthcare but also subsidised rice scheme and Swachh Bharat Abhiyan. “A poor family is destroyed by debt when one member falls ill… we are providing Rs 5 lakhs per year for treatment… whether you (crowd) will be here or in Delhi. Shouldn’t poor Odiyas get this benefit?”

“I cannot understand why my friend Naveen babu doesn’t understand,” Modi added, appealing to the Odisha government to join Ayushmaan Bharat. In August, Odisha launched its own health scheme, Biju Swastha Kalyan Yojana.

On the quality of healthcare in Odisha. Modi said: “The death of mothers during childbirth (in Odisha) is an open book”, he said. “We are dedicating five new medical colleges, at Baleswar, Baripada, Balangir, Koraput and Puri. Talcher and Sundergarh will get super-speciality hospitals. To modernise medical colleges in Cuttack, Burla and Berhampur an additional Rs 360 crores is being spent.”

Speaking on the popular subsidised rice scheme in Odisha, Modi said, “We are forced to tell you that rice, provided in Odisha at Re 1, is because of Rs 25-30 contributed by the Government of India”, Modi told the crowd. “People do not know this”, he remarked.

Talking about Swachh Bharat, Modi said, “Open defecation continues in Odisha. Toilets are not being built. I request Naveen Babu to prioritised Swachhata as it is connected to health”.

Modi also praised Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. “Since 2014, gas connection in Odisha leapt from 22% to 60-65%”.