Bhubaneswar: BJP National President Amit Shah on Sunday advised the party workers to strengthen party base at the grassroots.
“To achieve the Mission 120 Plus, you have to work very hard to strengthen the party base at the grassroots,” Shah said in his address at the Exhibition Ground here.
Expressing happiness over the activities of the party in the state in the last four years, he said he feels that the BJP will form the government in Odisha this time.
As part of the preparation for the ensuing elections in Odisha, Shah said 21,000 booth committees have been formed till date and another 5000 would be ready very soon.
“No government falls from heaven. It is the unstinting support of the people and the perseverance of the party workers which enables a party to form the government,” he pointed out.
Presiding over a review meeting with the party’s state unit office-bearers, earlier in the day, Shah said the head of the Shakti Kendra and the heads of the 718 booths to visit each house in every 15 days.
Taking a swipe at the BJD government on the missing Ratna Bhandar keys, the BJP chief said how can a government, which is unable to safeguard the sentiments of the Hindus, will be able to provide security to the state?
Talking about the failure of the state government, Shah said despite remaining in power for more than 18 years, the BJD government has not able to provide electricity connections to all houses as 36 percent of the families are still deprived of electricity while only 2 percent of the population has been provided piped water supply.
“The state government is not able to implement the central schemes properly. The government which fails in its effort to ensure the development of the state has no right to stay in power,” he added.
Reacting to the statement of Shah, the BJD spokesperson Pratap Deb said the BJP has no issue for the forthcoming elections.
“The BJP is trying to politicize the Ratna Bhandar issue. Those who have played politics on Lord Jagannath have lost their entity. The BJP should refrain from such issue else it would be severely punished by the Lord,” he pointed out.
Referring to the implementation of the central schemes in Odisha, Deb said the BJP chief is trying to mislead the people. “The Centre has changed the share partners of 33 schemes. As a result, the state government has been shouldering the excess financial burden to implement these schemes,” he maintained.
Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Niranjan Patnaik said since the organizational activity of the saffron party in Odisha is poor, Shah will frequently visit the state to strengthen the party base in the state.
“Going by the position of the BJP in other states, Shah is giving more priority to Odisha,” he added.
