Bhubaneshwar: BJP president Amit Shah on Friday called upon his party leaders and activists to “overthrow” the ruling BJD in the coming Assembly polls in 2019. Addressing a public rally here, Shah said Odisha had plunged into utter chaos under the Naveen Patnaik government and the “people here are battling with poverty, unemployment and corruption.”
“What has Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s government done for you in his 17 years of rule? Children are dying here every day due to lack of healthcare. Dana Majhi, a poor man of Kalahandi, had to carry the body of his wife on his shoulders for 10 kilometres as he was denied a mortuary van. Youths of the state are migrating to Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh etc in search of work, leaving behind their old parents and young wives at home. Is this called development? Why has he not been able to create jobs for the youths here,” asked the BJP national chief.
Mr Shah dared the Odisha CM to call a press conference and tell the people what he had done for them since he came to power in 2000. “I challenge Naveen to call a press conference tomorrow and tell people what he has done for them in his 17 years of rule. The Modi government has given Rs 1.30 lakh crore to Odisha ever since it took power at the Centre in 2014,” he said. Significantly, this was for the first time that the BJP chief took Naveen Patnaik head on.
Although the party had on January 6 last year organised a bigger public rally here in the city, Shah remained silent on the CM, fuelling speculation in political circles that the BJP — which shared power with BJD in Odisha from 2000 to 2009 — had not yet ended its bonhomie with the regional party.
BJD chief spokesperson S.N. Patra said, “Amit Shah had addressed many rallies in Odisha but he never managed to leave any impact on voters. His current visit will also have no impact on the people of Odisha as they know the Naveen Patnaik government is working for them overtime.”
Union ministers Jual Oram and Dharmendra Pradhan, BJP state president Basant Panda, BJP Legislature Party Leader in Odisha Assembly, K.V. Singhdeo, and former chief minister Giridhar Gamang also addressed the public rally.
