The BJP has targetted the ruling BJP in Odisha, taking a jibe at former civil servant and BJD leader V K Pandian, as it warned the people against "attempt to bring outsiders to the helm in the government." The BJP and BJD had considered forming an alliance, which failed to materialise.
The Lok Sabha and assembly elections will be held simultaneously in the state. As per the EC announcement, the Odisha assembly elections will be held in four phases on May 13, May 20, May 25 and June 1.
BJP president J P Nadda, who was in Behrempur on Sunday, said there were attempts to bring outsiders to the helm of the government. Urging people to end the 24-year BJD rule in the state, Nadda, while addressing an election rally at Ambapua here, questioned whether "there was no son of the soil to run the government in the state."
"Is there no son of the soil to run the government in Odisha that we have to import people from other states?" he said, in an apparent reference to Pandian, who hails from Tamil Nadu. Pandian is Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's close aide.
The BJP chief also said the Modi government ensured prosperity on all fronts and in every aspect during its tenure at the Centre in the last 10 years. "The BJP has ensured prosperity on all fronts and in every aspect during its tenure at the Centre in the last 10 years," Nadda said, adding that the BJP was attempting to bring in external leaders in Odisha, alleging that corruption and babu raj' were rampant under the BJD government.
"The state government's misdeeds have led to 160 chit fund companies swindling Rs 32,000 crore from 20 lakh people in Odisha," Nadda claimed.
Earlier, the Prime Minister also hit out at the BJD government, claiming that Odisha's identity and its language are under threat and people of the state will not tolerate this any longer.
Modi made this assertion in an interview with a news channel, a part of which was shared by the BJP on X. "The BJP should get a chance to serve the people of Odisha," the prime minister said. "Odisha's identity, its language and literature are in crisis today. The BJD government has worsened the situation in the state. The people will not tolerate this for much longer. This time there will be a change in Odisha," Modi said in the interview with CNBC TV18.
