Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Sunday took a dig at central ministers and reminded them that they should keep the promises they made to the people of Padampur while campaigning for the by-election in the western Odisha constituency.

Addressing a public meeting at Padampur on Sunday, Naveen said: “During the Padampur bypoll, Union ministers had visited the place and assured about railway projects, kendu leaves subsidy, crop insurance and other issues. I pray to lord Nrusinghanath (the presiding deity of the area) to ensure that the Union ministers remember their assurances.”

Padampur, a part of Bargarh district in western Odisha, witnessed a bye-election in December 2022 following the death of the BJD MLA Bijay Ranjan Singh Bariha. The BJP had pulled out all the stops to win Padampur where party stalwarts including railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, agriculture minister Narendra Singh Tomar and education minister Dharmendra Pradhan campaigned for the BJP candidate and raked up several issues such as railway connectivity to Padampur and insurance to farmers under Pradhanmantri Fasal Bima Yojana. They had maintained that the BJD government was not cooperating, which is the reason why the area remained neglected.

However, the BJD had effectively countered the move with Naveen Patnaik taking the lead and they eventually won the seat with a margin of more than 40,000 votes.

Naveen on Sunday reminded the Union ministers to do what they had promised for western Odisha. Naveen’s criticism has made it clear that Vaishnaw, who was elected to the Rajya Sabha with the support of the BJD in 2019, seems to have lost good terms with Naveen Patnaik. He had targeted the state government for its failure to provide land for building railway lines.

Addressing the gathering, Naveen said that the promises that he made during the bypoll are being fulfilled and he believes in work and not words. “I had announced that Padampur and Paikamal PHC (primary health centre) would be upgraded to CHC (community health centre). It has already been upgraded to CHC. The work for the Chakradharpur dam has begun. Lands have been identified for setting up various substations,” he said.

On the demand of making the Padampur subdivision into a district, Naveen said: “District status will be given to Padampur within a year.”

Reacting to Naveen’s criticism, Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan said: “The youths from the area are still going outside the state to work as labourers. The chief minister should assess whether the Odisha Rail Infrastructure Development Limited working under the Odisha government has done its job properly. The state government is yet to release the Rs 100 bonus it announced for the farmers of Sohela of Bargarh.”