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Feel poverty in KBK region, Naveen tells Rahul

Bhubaneswar: With AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi scheduled to visit Orissa’s backward Kalahandi-Bolangir-Koraput (KBK) region, known as “country’s hunger zone”, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday asked the young leader to feel poverty in the area and report it to the Centre.

“I hope he (Rahul) will see for himself the needs of KBK area which we have been demanding for a long time and report it to the Centre,” Patnaik told reporters after returning here from a five-day tour to New Delhi. Mr. Rahul is slated to launch his ‘India discovery tour’ from the KBK region on March 7 and travel through the State during his four-day tour. The Orissa government has launched Biju-KBK Yojna for development of KBK region, known as the country’s hunger zone, accusing the Centre of discontinuing the long-term action plan for the poverty-stricken area.

Since Mr. Rahul Gandhi chose KBK region for launching his countrywide tour from Sinapalli, ruling BJD-BJP feels it was an attempt to hijack poverty issue, but Mr. Patnaik said he was not worried. -PTI

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