This year's election in Odisha, which is undergoing simultaneous Lok Sabha and the state assembly, took a different turn on Monday as the BJP and the BJD declared two dates for swearing in of their future chief ministers.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday pushed aside the bonhomie with his ‘parammitra’ (dear friend) Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, expressing confidence that there will be a BJP CM this time with change of government and new chief minister will take oath on June 10. Following, BJD reacted immediately by declaring the oathtaking of the party supremo as sixth-time chief minister on June 9.
The latest developments have cleared the political scenario for the ongoing campaign. That BJD and BJP are going to be rivals till voting for state’s 21 Lok Sabha seats and 147 assembly segments are over is understood. Because never before a Prime Minister during an election campaign had openly predicted the incumbent regime’s ouster and installation of his party’s government by fixing the oathtaking date of the future chief minister, at least in Odisha particularly, during Naveen Patnaik’s tenure of 25 years.
Whether Modi had done his calculations before addressing his first election meeting at Berhampur in Patnaik’s Ganjam district or he spoke out of impulse is a question to be analysed by political pundits. Because so far Patnaik has never faced any anti incumbency in his political career nor there is any such indication this time till date. Anyway, after Prime Minister Modi said June 4, the date of vote counting, will be last date of BJD government in the state and new BJP chief minister will be chosen on June 6 followed by a swearing-in ceremony on June 10.
V.K. Pandian, former IAS officer turned BJD’s star campaigner, said in an election meeting in Kalahandi district on Monday that Patnaik will take oath on June 9 as chief minister again and his swearing-in will take place between 11.30 am to 1.30 pm that day.
If interpreted in terms of political humour, people of Odisha will talk about the two dates till the results are out on June 4. Of course, Patnaik has also reacted to Modi’s statement, saying BJP has been day-dreaming for many days. Following this, BJD has released an invitation letter for Patnaik’s oath-taking ceremony that has gone viral on social media. BJD national spokesperson Dr Sasmit Patra uploaded the invitation letter on his X handle after the Odisha BJP unit posted on their official X handle, wherein the expiry date of the BJD government was mentioned as June 4.
In the BJD invitation, that party stated in Odia that CM Patnaik’s sixth swearing-in ceremony will be held at Janta Maidan in Bhubaneswar on June 9 at 11.30 am. Patnaik will take oath as the longest serving chief minister of the country. Both the posts – BJD’s invitation letter for Mr Patnaik’s oath-taking ceremony and BJP’s post on BJD expiry date – are now going viral.
Earlier, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP National President J.P. Nadda had asked for a change of government in the state and installation of a BJP government. Host of Union ministers and central leaders are visiting Odisha and BJP has released its own manifesto for the state by promising 3.5 lakh jobs in five years, cash voucher of Rs 50,000 for women, returning the money people lost by investing in chitfund companies and procurement of paddy at Rs 3,100 per quintal.
Nadda, while releasing the manifesto on Sunday, said we will aim to create 25 lakh ‘Lakhpati Didis’ in Odisha by 2027. For this, we will create industrial clusters for every 500 self help groups. BJP has promised Rs 3,000 monthly pension for all senior citizens, physically disabled persons, widows and destitute. Referring to the state unit’s manifesto, Modi in his Behampur meeting said it is a visionary document for development of all sections of the society. He said in Odisha there will be a double-engine government for the first time.
Criticising Congress and BJD respectively for their 50 and 25 years of rule, Modi said though Odisha has water, fertile land, natural resources and a vast coastline, there has not been much development.
“I fail to understand what happened to a rich Odisha as its people are poor here. Why do labourers from the chief minister’s district migrate to other parts of country? Why is there a dearth of doctors in hospitals? In Hinjli (constituency of Chief Minister), there are no adequate cold storage and water facilities,” said Modi at Berhampur. He described BJD as “sinking” and Congress as “a spent force” and BJP as the “only ray of hope”.
Later, at Nawarangpur in south Odisha, Modi said, “This time BJD will go and BJP will come. Odisha will get its first BJP chief minister. The next chief minister will be a son or daughter of Odisha, not an outsider. The CM will be the one who respects the soil and culture of Odisha. This is Modi’s guarantee. The people of Odisha have the potential and passion. But I am saddened to see that BJD government did not allow the schemes made by Modi to be implemented. The schemes that were implemented, were stamped with corruption by the BJD,” the PM said.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who is contesting from Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat in western Odisha, said, “The Odia identity is under threat and this election is fought on Odia identity.”
In a veiled jibe at Pandian, he said, “BJD is being run by a group of bureaucrats… the caucus in Chief Minister’s office, which has a few non-Odia officers, came together and thought let us exploit the inability of the Chief Minister and let us create a vacuum from the back door. Their intention is to capture the state. This is a dangerous trend and this is what the public is angry about besides their inaction.”
