Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has fooled and failed the people of Odisha in the last 24 years, according to Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who is the BJP MP candidate from Sambalpur Lok Sabha constituency.
Dharmendra, who is contesting elections after a gap of 15 years, also dubbed Naveen contesting from Kantabanji as a gimmick. “In 2019, he vacated Bijepur and retained Hinjili after winning from both the Assembly seats. He had then promised to personally take charge of Bijepur’s development and also appointed a minister from the district. The constituency, however, has seen no significant development since then,” he claimed during a conversation with HT.
On the issue of labour migration, he said that Naveen’s home turn Hinjili and also Kantabanji in western Odisha are grappling with this problem. “It seems he has come to Kantabanji to showcase migration of labourers. This problem continues unabated despite the BJD remaining in power for 24 years. What is the drinking water scenario in Balangir and vacancies in government hospitals in the district? Before filing nomination for Kantabanji, the chief minister should come clear on what his government has done about these issues. His credibility is at its lowest this time,” Dharmendra said.
Instead of being personality-oriented, elections should be fought on basis of issues, he asserted.
Elaborating further on BJP’s main poll plank in Odisha, Odia asmita (pride), Dharmendra said: “What is there to be proud of when thousands of youths from the CM’s constituency in Hinjili are forced to migrate to Gujarat for livelihood? When we talk of Odia asmita it means protecting the interest of tribals and not taking a Cabinet decision that allows the sale of tribal land to non-tribals. Ironically, the regional party has not been able to find a local leader to lead them and all major decisions instead are being take a former non-Odia bureaucrat. We will go to people detailing how the state has been appropriated by a section of non-Odias,” he told the national daily.
The Union Minister further said that tribals, OBCs (Other Backward Classes), Dalits and farmers are not a priority for the Naveen-led BJD government in the state. The BJP will also raise the issues of unemployment, drinking water crisis, failure in agriculture, deterioration in the education sector and worsening law and order to counter BJD in the upcoming elections, he said.
On lack of a chief ministerial face in Odisha BJP, Dharmendra said they are fighting the upcoming elections under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “We will fight with a collective leadership approach and the CM will be decide by the party later,” he said while exuding confidence that the saffron party will win all 21 Lok Sabha seats in Odisha and also form a double-engine government in the state with an absolute majority.
