Odisha Elections 2024: Bubble Around BJP ‘Odia Asmita’ Poll Plank Has Burst, Says Bhrugu Baxipatra

Bhrugu said that he was shocked to see the BJP national president of BJP sharing the dais with Panigrahi, who was chargesheeted in the cash for job scam and spent months in jail, at a meeting on Sunday. “The BJP was at the forefront of the agitation against Panigrahi who was expelled from BJD for corruption and forgery, and I had led it then. The party later not only accepted him with open arms but also fielded him from Berhampur LS seat. How can you now claim that BJP is a party with a difference?” he asked.

The BJD leaders further said that he was not aware if the Odisha unit of party had apprised Nadda about criminal antecedents of the party nominee.

Bhrugu, who switched sides to BJD after snapping 23-year-old ties with BJP, said this has exposed the double standards of the saffron party, which had now become a laughing stock of Odisha. The state BJP cadres are equally dismayed, he added.

During the Vijay Sankalp Samabesh at Ambapua near Berhampur in Ganjam district, Nadda had called upon the people to oust the BJD government and prevent an outsider from taking the helm of the state. “Don’t you have any capable Odia leader to manage the affairs of the state? It is a matter of great concern that efforts are on to transfer the power to an outsider,” he said, taking forward the Odia pride narrative of the party.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah, during his April 25 visit to the state, had said that Naveen Patnaik’s decision to contest should be seen as an attempt to catapult a political heir to Vidhan Sabha by projecting the person from the seat vacated by him in the by-election.

Bhrugu, however, had earlier described Shah’s visit to Odisha as an attempt to encourage BJP leaders and workers, who are dejected at the prospects of losing the elections. He also questioned the sudden change in stance of the BJP towards Naveen Patnaik government ahead of the elections, having appreciated it earlier for its welfare programmes.