Odisha Polls: Amit Shah snubs Naveen Patnaik govt as a ‘Jhola Sarkar’
Rourkela(Odisha): Union home minister Amit Shah on Friday lambasted the Naveen Patnaik government by dubbing it a ‘Jhola Sarkar’ (a bag government).
Shah used the epithet ‘Jhola Sarkar’ apparently to snub the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) for what he said was rebranding the Narendra Modi government’s free rice scheme as his own welfare programme.
“Odisha government is a Jhola Sarkar. The Centre is giving rice free of cost to the poor. Unfortunately, this Naveen Pantaik government, which is in charge of the distribution of the commodity, is claiming it as its own by just tendering it to the beneficiaries in bags carrying log of the BJD and photograph of the CM,” he said while addressing a poll rally at Rourkela in Sundergarh district.
He dared the Naveen Patnaik government to serve two kilograms of extra rice to each beneficiary if it can.
“If you (Naveen Patnaik) think you are so capable, I dare you to give two more kilograms of rice to every ration card holder. You can no longer hijack and rebrand a Central government programme like the free rice scheme,” said Shah.
Stating that the strength of the BJD is declining in Odisha, Shah said the BJP will bag 15 of the 21 Lok Sabha seats and win above 75 of the 147 assembly seats.
“The BJP is going to form the government in Odisha by winning 75 assembly seats. The state will have a double-engine sarkar and there will be saffron colour all-around,” he claimed.
The Union minister raised the issue of Lord Jagannath’s Ratna Bhandar (treasury of gems and ornaments). He said the missing of the original keys of Ratna Bhandar was a serious act of negligence and doubted that if all the gems and ornaments were safe in the treasury.
He asked the Naveen Patnaik government to make the report of the judicial probe conducted into Ratna Bhandar key missing incident public.
The Union home minister took broadsides at the BJD government for defoliating spiritual fervor of Lord Jagannath temple premises at Puri by executing Sri Mandir Parikrama Prakalpa under which centuries-old mutts and monasteries were destroyed.
Shah also brought chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s close aide V Karthikeyan Pandian under his firing line. He indicated that Pandian, a former Tamil Nadu-born Odisha cadre bureaucrat who recently joined the BJD, has been trying to impose his rule in Odisha.
“Will you accept a man from Tamil Nadu as your chief minister? Is the rule of a non-Odia acceptable to you? If not, bring the BJP to power in the state. You will have an Odia as your chief minister here,” Shah said.
BJP’s Sundergarh Lok Sabha candidate Jual Oram and Rourkela MLA nominee Dilip Ray were present at the rally.
