Bhubaneswar: Asserting that Biju Janata Dal (BJD) will continue to serve the people of Odisha for the next 100 years, party president Naveen Patnaik on Friday rejected talks about divisions within the regional outfit.
Naveen, who is also the leader of opposition (LoP) in the Odisha Assembly, said this while addressing party leaders and workers on the occasion of the BJD’s 29th Foundation Day. The regional party was formed on December 26, 1997, and named after Biju Patnaik, former Odisha CM and father of Naveen Patnaik.
While urging party workers and leaders to have patience and work for the people sincerely, the former chief Minister gave a strong message of organisational unity and also mounted a blistering attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state.
“Patience is highly important in politics. I have deep faith in the hard work and commitment of lakhs of our party workers. Therefore, everyone should work towards converting the present challenges into opportunities to build a strong Odisha,” he said.
Dismissing speculations about the future of BJD, Naveen said there is a misinformation campaign against the party that the BJD will collapse, which is simply a rumour.
“I must make it clear that BJD is not about one or two leaders. It is a people’s movement deeply rooted in aspirations and pride of the people,” he said, adding that BJD would perform its role as the “voice” of the people of Odisha at least for the next 100 years.
The former CM said that the BJD works on the ideology of Biju Patnaik and serves the people of Odisha with the motto of three S like “Seva (service), Swabhiman (self-esteem) and Sangram (struggle)”.
Describing youths as the party’s assets, the BJD supremo said they should be active in social media and raise the voice of people.
Coming down heavily on the BJP government, the former CM alleged that the people of all sections of society are troubled during this one-and-a-half-year saffron rule. “Farmers, women, youths and all other sections of society do not feel comfortable in this BJP government,” he claimed.
Expressing concern over the law and order situation, particularly rise in crimes against women, Naveen claimed that even minor girls are not safe in Odisha now and people do not feel there is a government in the state.
