[Watch] Dhamendra Pradhan Talks About ‘Gentleman’ CM Naveen Patnaik & Odisha’s Culture & Cuisines

New Delhi/Bhubaneswar: Public trust is the bedrock of democracy and people of Odisha have reposed faith in Naveen Patnaik, which is the reason for his over 23 years tenure as the chief minister in the state, Dharmendra Pradhan said during a podcast with ANI on Monday.

Last month, Naveen surpassed the record of former West Bengal chief minister Jyoti Basu to become the second longest serving chief minister of a state in India. He is now second only to Pawan Kumar Chamling of Sikkim, who holds the enviable record of helming a state for 24 years and 166 days between December 1994 and May 2019 when he lost the assembly polls in the Himalayan state. Basu left office in 2000 after ruling the eastern state for over 23 continuous years.

Dharmendra, however, said that the BJP too has been ruling Gujarat since 1995, though there has been a change in the leadership. “The Gujarat experiment gave the country its PM and an influential global leader,” he said, talking about the rise of Narendra Modi from state to national politics.

He asserted that the BJP is the main opposition in Odisha. “I have no qualms in admitting that the saffron party is at the second position in the state.  We were at the third place during our alliance with the BJD. Since then, we have climbed to the second spot,” he said.

Talking about the equation between Naveen Patnaik-led ruling party and BJP at the Centre, he said that the CM works at per the parameters set by him. “He is gentleman and does not retort to abusive language to express his opposition. Perhaps which is why people of Odisha like him,” Dharmendra said.

When asked whether Odisha and the central governments share a close working relationship, he said that development is the main agenda and both the state and the Centre are doing their parts.

“PM Modi is driven by an aspirational philosophy. He put development above votes. Odisha got the true value for its mineral resources due to the introduction of e-auction of mines under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The revenue from mining went up by 10 times to Rs 50,000 crore from Rs 5,000 crore in 2014-15 . Next year, it will climb to 70,000 crore and the reason behind it is PM Modi’s policy,” he said.

Speaking about the June 3 triple train accident, Dharmendra said that the primary focus then was on rescuing the injured and how to console those who lost their loved ones. “Some people wanted to do politics over it, but the locals, who were helping the government machinery, did not let it happen,” he said while explaining the alleged tension when West Bengal chief Minister Mamata Banerjee arrived in Odisha.

When questioned about possible preponment of the elections in Odisha, the BJP leader said that the Election Commission is for an unified election across India as is being propagated by the saffron party. “There have been talks that the BJD is keen for early polls but it is not desirable for the state since tax-payers’ money is used for it,” he said.

Talking about cuisines of Odisha, Dharmendra said ‘Mahaprasad’ of Lord Jagannath is world famous and so also ‘Dalma’. “Odisha was the first state to be formed on linguistic basis in the country in 1936 during the British era. This idea was popularised by Odisha in 1902-03 and it took the shape of a national policy in 1950s. Swadeshi and Salt Satyagrah, the two methods of political struggle evolved by Mahatma Gandhi, can be traced to the 1908 poem ‘Arat’ of Utkala Byasa Kabi Fakir Mohan Senapati in which he wrote, ‘Wake up, salt has started coming from Liverpool and cloths from Manchester’. The poem of Bhim Bhoi, a tribal-blind poet of Odisha, mo jeevana pachhe narke padithau, jagata uddhara heu (let my life remain inglorious, let the world achieve salvation) has been inscribed on the wall of UNO Hall,” he said, taking pride in Odisha’s culture and its history.

“Odia are not an aggressive race and will continue to be known for its Jagannth Dham,” he added.

Dharmendra further reiterated that he is keen to contest the next election and has requested his party for the same.

You can watch the podcast here: