Bhubaneswar: A day after Odisha BJP president Manmohan Samal claimed that BJD camp will be empty very soon, the regional party retaliated on Thursday and threw a challenge asking the saffron party to do it if it has the strength.
Reacting sharply to BJD president Naveen Patnaik’s attack on Mohan Majhi government, Samal had said that two Rajya Sabha members of BJD have already joined BJP. Many leaders of BJD including MPs, MLAs and sarpanches are interested to come to BJP, he claimed.
Claiming that BJD camp will soon become empty, the state BJP chief said Naveen should rather worry about the regional outfit as many members of his party have lost faith in his leadership.
Coming down heavily on Manmohan Samal, senior BJD leader and former Minister Badri Narayan Patra told reporters that BJP can make an attempt at emptying BJD if it has the strength to do so.
Patra said it is very easy to make tall claims but BJD is not bothered as these hollow utterances have no meaning. “Let BJP try and make our party empty if it has the strength,” he said.
Asserting that BJD is a regional political party, Patra said no one has the strength and capability to finish such a huge organisation. Therefore, BJP leaders should refrain from making such meaningless statements, he said.
Notably, Samal on Wednesday hit back at Naveen Patnaik for claiming that BJP had made false promises to the people during election. The state BJP chief said that the former chief minister is yet digest the victory of the saffron party.
Reacting sharply to Naveen’s verbal assaults, Samal said the first 100 days of the BJP government in the state is just a trailer. He should have the patience to watch the full movie.
Samal said the Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi-led government has fulfilled all major promises made in the BJP election manifesto in the first 100 days while the previous BJD government could not keep many of its promises in the 24 years of its rule.
“We have fulfilled promises on Subhadra Yojana, enhanced minimum support price for paddy, opened Shree Jagannath temple gates and Ratna Bhandar and many others. Our commitment to the people has been reflected in the budget. The first 100 days were a trailer, the full movie is ahead,” Samal remarked.
He further said the BJP government has just completed 100 days and its performance during this small period is before everyone. “Let the BJD tell people what it had promised to them in the last 15 years and how many promises have been fulfilled?”