Farmers serve ultimatum to Odisha govt; CM restructures party wing

An agitating farmers' body Friday served an ultimatum to the BJD-led Odisha government to solve their problems by January 31 or face the wrath of peasants in the next election.

The threat came after the farmers under the banner of Naba Nirman Krushak Sangathan (NNKS) were stopped by police from marching towards Bhubaneswar from Raghunathpur, around 15 km away from here.

Ahead of the Lok Sabha and assembly elections due next year, BJD president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Friday restructured its farmers' wing, appointing two senior leaders at its top positions.

NNKS convener Akshaya Kumar said the recent results of the five state assembly elections indicated that farmers were now "united" and if the Odisha government did not make its stand clear on the farmers' demands by January 31, the agitation will be intensified from February 1.

"The Odisha government may also face the same situation, if it ignores farmers' demands," he said and threatened that the state government would be responsible for the law and order situation after the January 31 deadline.

Though the NNSS members' march was stopped from entering Bhubaneswar, a delegation of the body was allowed to call on Governor Ganeshi Lal and hand over a memorandum on their demands.

The farmers outfit has been agitating for long demanding pension, proper price of their produces and prestige for farmers. They have also been demanding Rs 5,000 as monthly pension for elderly farmers.

This is the second time the state government stopped the march of NNKS to Bhubaneswar in three months.

When a large number of farmers marched to Bhubaneswar to stage a demonstration here on November 5, the police had stopped them midway at various places, triggering criticism from the opposition Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The NNKS had earlier rejected the state government's inter-ministerial committee and refused to talk to the panel headed by Finance Minister S B Behera.

"Let the government issue an ordinance announcing pension for farmers," Kumar said.

The ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) appointed senior leader and MP Prasanna Acharya as president of the party's farmer wing, Biju Krushak Janata Dal, and Health Minister Pratap Jena as its secretary general, party sources said.

Jena comes from a farmer's family while Acharya hails from Western Odisha, considered the rice bowl of the state, where the farmers' association is strong.

The restructuring came three days after the results of the assembly elections in five states were declared.

Following this, Patnaik had said, "All these states that have gone for election are predominantly agrarian states. The central BJP government has done very little for the farmers....