BJP to raise farmers' suicides, drought in Assembly

Besides demanding a white paper on farmers' suicide cases, the opposition BJP today said it would raise drought and a host of other issues in the winter session of the Odisha Assembly which commences on December 1.
The party, however, may not put up its candidate for the Rajya Sabha by-poll slated for December 14. The party has only 10 MLAs in the House of 147 members.
"The BJP will give emphasis mostly to drought and farmers' suicide cases in the winter session. Besides, teachers and bus operators' call for strike will also figure in the House," party MLA Pradeep Purohit told reporters after the BJP Legislature Party meeting held here.

This apart, BJP members are also preparing themselves to raise questions on the alleged irregularities in distribution of ration cards and mineral smuggling, he said.
Stating that the 2015 drought is one of the worst droughts in Odisha after 1965, Purohit said the party would seek clarification from Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who is also in-charge of Water Resources department, on the status of irrigation in the state.
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Naidu said he will file his nomination papers for
election to Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan tomorrow.
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Prasad claimed that Congress is jittery because of Modi's campaign to develop the country with honesty and that his public rallies have seen "historic" participation from people.

"Congress has deep links with corruption," he alleged referring to "scams" of Rs 1.86 lakh crore related to coal block allocation and Rs 1.76 lakh crore in 2G spectrum allocation.
The then Union ministers P Chidambaram and Kapil Sibal had claimed there was no financial loss, he said.
The NDA government earned Rs 3 lakh crore and Rs 1.1 lakh crore with coal block and 2G spectrum allocations, he said.
"Our honesty and the lies and corruption of Congress are visible. I understand its trouble as it is used to pass the public revenue as its own. It sees everything through the same glasses," he told reporters.

Goyal also rejected allegations that BJP bought land across the country before demonetisation as its leaders were aware of the exercise.
The decision to open a party office in all districts of the country was taken in its National Executive meeting in April 2015 and the land purchases have been part of this effort, he claimed.