Bhubaneswar: Couple of days after BJD leader V K Pandian held BJP responsible for Kandhamal riots, former Union minister and BJP leader Pratap Sarangi on Monday exhorted the people of Odisha to dethrone the incumbent government while blaming Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for the murder of VHP leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati.
He alleged that an attempt was made to create animosity between Harijan and Adivasi communities in Kandhamal by usurping their land and it was followed by illegal conversion of the people of the region. “What was the role Swarupananda Patra, the father of current BJD MP Sasmit Patra, and Radhakant Nayak?” he asked.
Sarangi further alleged that the sear, who worked for the uplift of tribals in Kandhamal, was murdered following a conspiracy and the government failed to provide him security. “Even though there was a threat to his life, no steps were taken to tighten his security. His security personnel had gone for lunch when he was killed. His security cover was the responsibility of the state Home Department which was under CM Naveen Patnaik. Why has the Odisha government not made reports of Swami Laxmanananda’s murder public?” he asked.
He along with four other top BJP leaders of Odisha launched a verbal barrage on the ruling BJD in the joint press conference even as first-round polling is underway in the state.
Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi said questioned the BJD government over entrusting the work of Srimandir Parikrama Prakalpa to the architectural firm ‘Bhoomi Putra’, a South Indian firm with no prior expertise. “I want to ask Sana babu (VK Pandian), who is desperate to become the Bada babu (Chief Minister), what was the motive behind handing over the Rs 4200 crore project to this architectural firm. We urge the people to check the credentials of the firm,” she said while asserting that the BJP has never opposed any development work in the state.
She alleged that the DPR prepared the firm was removed from its website after the BJP brought violations of Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act (or AMASR Act) to the fore. “The government should instead thank us for helping them to prepare the correct DRP,” she said.
Aparajita said that the Tamil Nadu Generation Distribution Corporation is buying power at 2.52 paisa per unit from Odisha while the consumers of the state are being charged 2.82 paisa per unit. “Why is Odisha providing power to Tamil Nadu at lower rates while charging its own consumers more?” she asked.
“Time has come to make an important decision and I want to ask people of the state whether we are going to elect leaders or kritadasa (slaves),” she added.
BJP leader Baijayant Panda told the presser that it was a matter of concern that the government of Odisha has been outsourced. “The one (Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik) whom the people of Odisha had voted to power is being controlled like a puppet and his AI-generated & Deepfake videos are in circulation. People of Odisha have the rights to know if the CM is actually speaking to them in those videos.”
“Why other leaders of BJD are not seen around or with the CM? Before 2018, CM Naveen was not like this; he was not controlled by anyone. It is personally hurtful for me to see Naveen Patnaik like this as my family shared a cordial relationship with the family of late Biju Patnaik for decades,” he said.
The time has come to free the CM from the jail-like situation, he added.
Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan asked why people of Ganjam district are migrating to Surat if Odisha is administered by an able government as being claimed by the BJD. “When I exposed the BJD and its CM for talking on non-existent subjects, including classical status to Odissi music, to score political mileage, they called me a migrant for having being elected to Rajya Sabha from other states. “There is no provision to give recognition to the music of any state of the country as ‘classical music’. Is it right to question repeatedly on the issue which is not in the provision?” he asked.
The Union minister said that like the movie Gangs of Wasseypur, there is a group, which has hijacked governance in Odisha, and there are no Odias in it. “Development and Odia Asmita is our main issue. Why more people from Hinjili are going to Gujarat? The BJP is a party which believes in language, literature, culture, history, tradition and development. These sensitive issues are a big question in Odisha today. Odisha has to be brought out of this situation.”
Responding to BJD leader V K Pandian’s comparative statistics on Gujarat and Odisha, Dharmendra said that child mortality rate (IMR) in Odisha is 36 and 23 in Gujarat while the national rate is 28.
“They also called me Raj Mistri (mason). Yes, we are Raj Mistris (masons). While the big Raj Mistri is sitting in Delhi to shape the future of the country we are here to shape the future of Odisha under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. So, I congratulate them (BJD) for calling me a Raj Mistri,” he said.
Dharmendra added that the ruling BJD has failed Odisha in the last 25 years. “Be it per capita income, drinking water, education, healthcare facilities or safety and security of women… It’s time for a change in governance in Odisha.”
BJP Odisha unit president Manmohan Samal said that the BJD leaders are making statements against the Prime Minister out of desperation. “The people of Odisha have accepted PM Modi and his words on formation of BJP government in Odisha. It is reflected in their overwhelming support to the party. The BJD, on the other, is trying to creating confusion in their mind with misleading statements. It is claiming to win all 147 Assembly seats and in the same breath also accusing the BJP of working on a strategy to break the party post-poll. They are not willing to accept the impending defeat,” he said.
The state BJP chief further said that the BJD is falling short of leaders and the government is instead being run by a ‘gumasta (representative/ agency)’. “The ministers and the MLAs have been relegated to the background and are being engaged for putting up tents and managing traffic. That is the way the BJD treats its leaders. A party, which has failed to groom the second rung of leaders, does have the moral right to question us on our CM candidate,” he said.
“We had demanded details of expenses incurred in various works in Odisha. But, the BJD doesn’t have an answer, and the way the government is functioning is really concerning… There is no democracy in BJD and they are instead pointing fingers at others.”
Samal added that the parliamentary committee of the BJP will take a decision on the CM of the state. “The BJD leaders can never understand our party. They don’t know how to elect a CM,” he added, responding to tweets of BJD leaders Pranab Prakash Das and Sasmita Patra that the saffron party has accepted their demand and called for a press meet to declare its chief ministerial candidate.
