Jajpur: Mounting a scathing attack on Chief Minister Neveen Patnaik, BJP stalwart and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday accused him of trying to impose a ‘Tamil Babu’ on Odisha and said the people of the state will never tolerate this move.
“Do you want a Chief Minister who belongs to Odisha or a Tamil Babu to rule over you? No one will tolerate any such move,” Shah said while addressing a public meeting at Korei in Jajpur district to garner support for BJP candidates.
Stressing that the people of Odisha sacrificed their lives and fought valiantly against Samrat Ashoka, the BJP heavyweight said Naveen Patnaik is trying to impose a “Tamil CM” on the people. “People tolerated Naveen Babu for long but we will not tolerate this Tamil Babu using his name,” Shah said.
The Home Minister, who also addressed an election rally of BJP at Chandbali in Bhadrak, said when the entire country was celebrating ‘Ram Mahotsav’, Odisha CM and his Tamil Babu tried to stop Odia people from attending the historic event.
“Can those who stopped ‘Ram Bhakts’ be brought back to power? Can a person from Tamil Nadu be the Chief Minister of Odisha? Prime Minister Narendra Modi will give you an Odia-speaking young CM who is a resident of the state to serve you,” the BJP stalwart said.
Accusing the CM of neglecting the people of Odisha and keeping the state backward in the last 25 years, he said the youth will no longer have to migrate to other states in search of employment if BJP forms government in the state after the elections.
Stating that only 3.5 per cent households are provided with tap water in Odisha, he said the BJP government will ensure the supply of tapped water to all households within a year.
He also hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi for providing free 5 kg of rice to the people of Odisha, and criticised Naveen for distributing the rice in jute bags with his photographs. “PM Modi’s government is ‘chawal wali sarkar’, while Naveen Patnaik’s government is ‘jhole wali sarkar’,” Shah added.
Claiming that BJP has already won 310 Lok Sabha seats so far, Shah said after all seven rounds of polling PM Modi should be able to secure 400 plus seats.
The BJP stalwart further claimed that BJP has to win 17 Lok Sabha seats in Odisha and form a party government here in the state by winning more than 75 Assembly seats.
Poll results will be declared on June 4 and Naveen Patnaik will become the former Chief Minister, Shah claimed, adding that the state will get a young CM and a devotee of Lord Jagannath will be at the helm. “After 25 long years Odisha will get an Odia speaking Chief Minister,” he added.
