Bhubaneswar: Ahead of Amit Shah’s two-day tour of Odisha, senior Congress leader Tara Prasad Bahinipati on Saturday claimed that the Union Home Minister’s visit will trigger fear in the ruling BJD in the state.
“Amit Shah’s visit will definitely have an impact on Odisha poiltics .. not just impact, it will trigger fear in the Biju Janata Dal,” Bahinipati, who is Congress MLA from Jeypore in Koraput district, told a TV channel.
To a question, he said there is no reason for Congress to be afraid of the visit of the senior BJP leader. “It is the BJD camp which is going to be scared,” he said.
“Why should Congress be afraid? We do not have traders in our party. What can Shah do to our party,” Bahinipati said.
The Congress leader’s remarks came amid speculation in the political circles in the state that the BJP may adopt an aggressive policy towards the ruling BJD in Odisha keeping the 2024 general elections in mind.
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Though many often see a bonhomie in the ties between BJP and BJD in recent times, political analysts feel that the saffron party is likely to harden its stance against the regional party with presidential and vice-presidential elections getting over.
In both the elections, the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD backed the NDA candidates as Odisha’s Droupadi Murmu became the first tribal woman to occupy the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Earlier also, the BJD had backed the NDA Government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on several occasions.
In the run-up to the 2019 lections, BJP with frequent campaign trips to Odisha by Modi had emerged as the biggest threat to the BJD government, which had come to power in the state in 2000. However, though BJP sought to install “double-engine” government – both at the centre and in the state, it emerged as the main opposition.
Shah, who is scheduled to arrive here on Sunday, is also likely to discuss the political situation in the state with senior party leaders from Odisha apart from attending several functions in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.
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