Bhubaneswar, Nov. 27 -- Amid the political slugfest between BJD and the BJP over farmers' issues, Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar on Sunday came down heavily on the Odisha government during his visit to Padampur in Bargarh district ahead of the crucial bypoll scheduled on December 5.

Tomar countered the claims of the ruling party that the Centre had been holding up installments of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) meant for the farmers. Tomar said BJD is playing the blame-game just to divert the attention of people.

"The Centre has already released funds for Fasal Bima Yojana. The responsibility of floating the bids for the implementation of the scheme vests with the State government. Subse...