Sonepur: Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Thursday launched a scathing attack on Naveen Patnaik-led BJD government while kicking off the BJP campaign for upcoming elections from Sonepur in Odisha.
“Those who can’t take pride in their own state’s language, literature and culture, can’t take the Odisha forward. The BJD government not only deprived Odisha of development but also indulged in massive corruption through officers,” Shah said at the public meeting.
Exhorting people to upstage the Naveen Patnaik government, Shah said that the states where BJP is in power have made rapid strides in all sectors. “You voted Naveen Patnaik-led BJD to power in the state for five terms, bring BJP to power once, we will make Odisha the number 1 state in the country. Odisha has most number of poor despite being a mineral-rich state. We will ensure the development of the state and the poor. I assure you that no one will have to migrate to other states in search of work,” he asserted while setting the stage for a high-voltage fight.
The number uno status was something that even Naveen Patnaik promised by 2036, coinciding with the state’s 100th year of formation, while launching his party’s 2024 election campaign from his constituency of Hinjili on Wednesday.
Shah also slammed the BJD government for attempting to divert attention from the “Pran Pratishtha” ceremony at the “historic” Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir in Ayodhya.
This was an indirect reference to the massive religious congregation in Puri for inauguration of the BJD government’s ambitious Parikrama Prakalpa around Shree Jagannath Temple, five days before the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple at Ayodhya.
While playing the ‘asmita’ card and criticising the BJD for reducing shrines in the state to tourist spots, he added that Jagannath Temple in Puri will be developed like Kashi Vishwanath in Uttar Pradesh if BJP comes to power in the state.
Union Minister further alleged that Naveen Patnaik is reluctant to implement Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana fearing the soaring popularity of PM Modi in the state. “The government also tried to appropriate all central schemes, including subsidised rice scheme and houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, by putting its own stickers on them,” he said.
“Modi-wave has gripped entire country as people want to see him (Narendra Modi) as the Prime Minister for the third time, and the same can be felt in Odisha as well. I am confident that the state will give more than 20 Lok Sabha seats to the BJP,” he added.
He also touched upon abrogation of Art 370 and surgical strike in Pakistan.
Shah’s speech was a reminder of his pre-2019 poll campaign when he had likened Naveen Patnaik-led BJD government in Odisha to a “burnt transformer”. While exhorting people to “throw the burnt transformer, not replace it”, he had also criticised Naveen Patnaik, saying he was unable to deliver speeches in his mother tongue Odia and had to resort to using notes as a crutch. The BJP, however, adopted a soft approach towards Naveen and BJD after the 2019 elections with the latter extending support to the Centre on almost all important issues in Parliament.
It was also the first instance of a BJP national leader openly criticising the CM following the breakdown of alliance talks between the two parties.
Earlier addressing the gathering, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who is also the BJP MP candidate from Sambalpur, also dared the CM to publish a white paper on the development works done in Hinjili, Bijepur and Kantabanji Assembly constituencies in last 24 years.
BJP Odisha unit president Manmohan Samal, Leader of Opposition in Odisha Assembly Jaynarayan Mishra, Balangir MP Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo and former minister KV Singh Deo among other senior party leaders were present at the meeting.