After victory in MP, Rajasthan and C'garh, BJP sees a stellar show in Odisha
Bhubaneswar: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which is the major opposition party in Odisha, sees the hope of coming to power in the state in 2024 Assembly elections, besides improving upon its tally of 8 Lok Sabha seats it won in 2019 polls.
Odisha state BJP president Manmohan Samal, while addressing a press conference here, on Monday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity rating in Odisha stood high and it would surely get reflected on the poll prospects of the BJP in 2024.
This apart, Samal targeted the State government alleging mass corruption in almost every department. “This government neither has eyes nor ears. Nearly Rs 19 lakh crore sent by the Central government to Odisha in the last nine years was not spent wisely to bring desirable results. No infrastructure development has been done. Tourism, irrigation and industries sectors still remain underdeveloped. Almost 1.5 crore youths have migrated to other states to work,” Samal said.
Taking a dig at Tamil Nadu-born former bureaucrat VK Pandian who is being seen as chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s successor, Samal said, “We are very concerned about the huge amount of public money the BJD spent to build Pandian’s public image as a political leader. Over Rs 300 crore was spent on VK Pandian’s chopper ride and Rs 500 crore on carrying people to the meeting places addressed by him.”
Stating that the ruling BJD had failed to realise the religious sentiment of Odia people, the saffron party leader said the Naveen Patnaik government’s silence over opening of Lord Jagannath’s Ratna Bhandar (treasury of jewellery) for current assessment of the stock created suspicion about the latter’s integrity.
“The actual amount of jewellery in Ratna Bhandar continues to remain a mystery. When people across the state are anxious to know if the jewellery and other valuables kept in Ratna Bhandar are safe or not, the Naveen Patnaik government is in no mood to reopen the Ratna Bhandar even after the order of the High Court of Odisha. This is the most insensitive government we have ever seen,” he added.
“Result in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh is just a trailer. The BJD will see the full movie in the 2024 elections,” Samal said.
The BJP has 22 members in the Odisha Legislative Assembly as against 114 held by the ruling BJD. The Congress has only 9 members.
