Amit Shah launches high-decibel poll campaign in Odisha, exhorts party workers to ‘overthrow’ Naveen Patnaik govt

‘A corrupt bunch of officers are running the state’

By Dr Rama Chandra Behera

Sonepur, April 25: Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday gave a call to the party leaders and workers in Odisha to oust the Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government in the state for achieving faster prosperity and addressing some critical challenges like poverty, economic empowerment of farmers and weaker sections of the society.

Addressing a massive public rally here at Sonepur in Western Odisha, Shah said Odisha is now being ruled by a group of “corrupt officers” who have launched a reign of terror in the state.

“Odisha is now being ruled by a person who does have regard for the language of the land, its culture and rich history. The state is now being ruled by a bunch of ‘Bhayankar Bhrastachari’ (highly corrupt) bureaucrats,” Shah said.

His observation was seen as a clear criticism of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s inability to speak Odia and his over-reliance on a group of top officials who are allegedly managing BJD’s party affairs, violating code of conduct for civil servants.

He called upon voters to elect more than 20 Lok Sabha members from the state and give an absolute majority to the BJP in the 147-member Odisha Legislative Assembly.

In 2019, the BJP had won 8 of the 21 Lok Sabha seats.

The home minister’s broadsides against the Odisha CM and the BJD were seen as clear departures from the BJP’s “cool approach” towards the BJD. Though the BJD is the principal political opponent of the BJP, the latter had bought peace with the regional party, ostensibly to get its support for crucial passing bills in Rajya Sabha.

Shah blamed Odisha’s lack of prosperity to the inefficiency of the 24 years of Naveen Patnaik government.

“Odisha is rich in mineral resources. It also has a huge water resource. However, the state continues to languish in abject poverty and lakhs of people are migrating to Gujarat, Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad in search of job. Farmers are also not getting due remuneration for their crops,” he said.

The BJP leader observed that the 24 years of the BJD rule in Odisha were just “lost years.”

“When I started reviewing the progress of various states under the Narendra Modi government, I found provinces having BJP governments have made significant strides in development. However, I found Odisha stands at the same place when Naveen Babu started his reign here,” he said.

He criticized the “rebranding” of the rice given under the public distribution system (PDS) and Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana by the Naveen Patnaik government.

He also censured the BJD government for non-implementation of the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat Yojana.

“Odisha government fears that once the Ayushman Bharat Yojana is implemented here, the Modi government’s popularity in the state will rise further,” he said.

The home minister criticised the Congress and its president Mallikarjuna Kharge for their critical comments on abrogation of Article 370 and Ram Temple issue.

Claiming that construction of Ram Temple at Ayodhya and lifting 80 crore people from poverty line reflected the BJP’s resolve to walk its talk.

After the public rally, Shah huddled up with the party’s senior leaders in Bhubaneswar in the evening where he discussed the party’s strategies for the forthcoming Lok Sabha and assembly polls.