New Delhi: The BJP can win 16 Lok Sabha seats in Odisha in the upcoming elections, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said in an interview to a TV channel.
“I strongly believe that Odisha is lagging behind in development. This apart, Odia language, culture is also under threat. The BJP takes these things seriously and also believes that a state should progress in tune with the available resources, which is not happening in Odisha. This was the reason behind our decision to contest the elections alone and I am confident that the people of Odisha will bless the saffron party as we fight the polls under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi,” he said while elaborating on its ‘Odia Asmita’ (Odia Pride) and development planks.
In 2019 election, the BJP had won all the five Lok Sabha seats (Bargarh, Sundargarh, Balangir, Sambalpur and Kalahandi) in western Odisha, two (Mayurbhanj and Balasore) in North and one (Bhubaneswar) in coastal region of the state.
In an earlier interview Shah had spoken on similar lines while divulging the reason on why the BJP chose not to ally with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Odisha. “Our party workers strongly believed that for Odia language, culture, and for pride of Odisha, the BJP should fight separately. So went with their beliefs,” he had said.
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On April 28, PM Modi, who is scheduled to address two election rallies in Berhampur and Nabarangpur parliamentary constituencies on May 6, also claimed that Odisha’s ‘identity and language’ is under threat. “Odisha’s Asmita (identity) is under threat. There is also a danger to Odia language. I doubt whether the people of Odisha will tolerate this,” Modi said in an interview to television channel on the same day BJP national president J P Nadda in an election rallies in Odisha cautioned people about an attempt to “bring outsiders” to the helm in the government, while seeking to put an end to the 24-year BJD rule in the state.
Also Read: J P Nadda Warns People Against ‘Outside Leader’ To Run Govt In Odisha
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