Parties Trade Charges On Amit Shah Odisha Visit Eve

Bhubaneswar: A day before Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s visit to Odisha to address a mega convention here in support of the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), the BJP engaged in a verbal duel with the BJD and the Congress on Wednesday.

While the saffron party is leaving no stone unturned to make Shah’s trip successful, its rivals deplored the Centre’s bid to create awareness in Odisha about the law two-and-a-half months after the Parliament passed it on December 11.

“Instead of visiting Odisha to tell the people in favour of CAA, the Union Home Minister should stay in New Delhi to restore law and order and contain the CAA-related violence that has left nearly 30 dead and 200 injured,” senior Congress leader Suresh Routray told media persons. “The people of India are now aware of the consequences of CAA,” he said, describing Shah’s scheduled visit as ‘political drama’.

The BJD, which supported the passing of CAA in Parliament, too, said the Union Minister need not have to convince the people to support CAA. “People of Odisha are well aware of the stand on CAA taken by the Centre and the state government. In my opinion, the time to convince the people about this Act is already over. It would have been better had the Centre convinced the people about the Act before amending it so that there would not have been violence across the country as we are witnessing now,” BJD spokesperson Pratap Deb said.

Reacting to the statements of the Congress, BJP state general secretary Prithwiraj Harichandan said the Congress is inciting and perpetrating violence across the country with the support of the communist parties. “The manner in which they are creating lawlessness across the country, they will lose their entity as the people will reject them,” he added.

On the BJD’s comments, Harichandan asked why the BJD is now being critical of Shah’s visit when there is time to reach out to more and more people on this matter.