In his first address in Odisha since the announcement of the Lok Sabha election 2019 dates, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday slammed both the Congress and the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) for “betraying” the poor.

Addressing an election rally in Odisha’s Kalahandi, Modi said that both the grand old party and the state government “conspired to keep the poor, poor”.

“The Congress and BJD conspired to keep the poor, poor. They have betrayed them. People have been forced to migrate to other states for livelihood,” he said.

Recalling former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s statement on corruption, Modi accused the Congress of failing to put the entire amount meant for the development of the poor in their hands.

“It was here in Kalahandi where Rajiv Gandhi said that when he sends Re 1 from Delhi only 15 paise reach the villages. At that time Congress was in power from the Parliament to the Panchayat. This means that the 85 paise were going in some panja (hand),” Modi said referring to the symbol of the Congress party.

Modi said that his government achieved in 5 years what the Congress couldn’t in decades.

“Today the entire 100 paise reaches the poor. BJP has plugged the leakage in the system that was allowing money to land in the hands of middlemen,” he said.

Underlining his government’s achievements, the PM said that the credit for all the developmental works goes to the people of the country.

“Without taking a single leave in last five years, I worked diligently to bring transformation in the country. It was possible because people supported me. The credit for the transformation in the country goes to the people of the country,” he said.

“In the last five years, 8 lakh poor families have been given houses in Odisha. More than 24 lakh free electricity connections have been given. After 70 years of independence, for the first time electricity was provided to 3,000 villages in India,” he added.

The PM also assured the people of the state that the condition of the poor in the state will improve once the BJP comes to power in Odisha.

“If BJP had formed govt here, the work in Odisha would’ve been much faster, better and at a bigger scale,” he said.

Elections to both the Lok Sabha and the Assembly will be held concurrently in Odisha.

“Despite of no cooperation from the state govt, we did our best to bring about the change in your lives,” he said.

Elections for the 21 Lok Sabha seats and 147 assembly constituencies in Odisha will be held in four phases from 11 to 29 April.