Bhubaneswar: The BJP is being perceived to be taking a little more aggressive stance in Odisha, which will go to polls next year, after winning three states in Hindi heartland in the recently concluded Assembly elections. The party leaders in the state have also sharpened their criticism of the ruling dispensation.
Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who is usually measured in his comments, too has claimed that the popularity of the saffron party and Prime Minister Narandra Modi in growing in Odisha and it will increase its tally from 8 to at least 15 in Lok Sabha in 2024. “The approval rating of PM Modi in Odisha has remained at 80% in the last 8-9 years. We got 22% votes in Lok Sabha elections in Odisha in 2014. Five years later, the vote percentage of BJP rose to 38 and there was a gap of only 4% as the ruling BJD won 42% votes. This time, we will get more than 45% votes and at least 15 seats in Lok Sabha elections,” he told Aaj Tak.
Dharmendra further stressed that three months are enough in politics to bring about a change.
“Without any biases, the Modi government increased the total allocation from Rs 3 lakh crore to Rs 18 lakh crore, which is more than six times during the period, for Odisha. The state has also benefited the most in terms of revenue because of the mineral reforms,” he added.
He also spoke about increase in BJP’s vote share in Vidhan Sabha elections from 18% in 2014 to 32% in 2019. “While BJP has seen nearly 100% growth in Odisha, the BJD’s vote share has remained stagnant,” he said.
He, however, made no remarks on the party’s prospects in the state assembly election.
Odisha BJP president Manmohan Samal, on the other hand, has long been asserting that the saffron party will come power in state as well.
Reacting to Dharmendra’s state, BJD leader Amar Satpathy said that people of Odisha are with the Conch party. “The party under the leadership of Naveen Patnaik has the blessings of the people and it is ready with the roadmap for 2024,” he added.
