Naveen Patnaik to hold farmers’ rally in Delhi on January 8 over paddy MSP

Odisha Chief Minister and Biju Janata Dal president Naveen Patnaik has planned a farmers’ rally at Talkatora Stadium in Delhi on January 8 to protest against the Centre. It will be his first rally in the national capital, intended to display his party’s strength before the Lok Sabha and state assembly polls due later this year. BJD leaders said farmers from Odisha would travel to Delhi to register their protest against the NDA government.

The demand on paddy prices

At a press conference held by the party’s farmers’ wing, the Biju Janata Dal Krushak Cell, the BJD demanded that the Centre raise the minimum support price for paddy by at least 50% as it had promised. Pratap Jena, the Odisha minister in charge of health and information and public relations, said that, as in previous years, the central agriculture ministry had ignored the state’s proposal for a higher paddy MSP.

The party argued that the MSP set by the Centre had not kept pace with rising input costs, leaving Odisha farmers without a fair price. For this kharif season the Centre set the common paddy MSP at Rs 1,750 per quintal; the state had asked for Rs 2,930 per quintal.

Prasanna Acharya, who leads the BJD in the Rajya Sabha, said the rally would bring the problems of Odisha’s farmers to national attention.

The state’s farm package

In December, Patnaik announced a Rs 10,180 crore package for small and marginal farmers, named Krushak Assistance for Livelihood and Income Augmentation. Through this scheme, about five lakh farmers are to receive Rs 10,000 each, in two instalments for the rabi and kharif crops, for three years. Both landowning and landless farmers are covered.

What happened next

In the 2019 Odisha assembly election the Biju Janata Dal won 112 seats, the BJP 23 and the Congress 9, and Naveen Patnaik remained Chief Minister.

See also: Elections · Political leaders

Originally published on 5 January 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.

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