Throw out BJD, no one will have to migrate from state, says Shah in Odisha

AFTER FAILED talk s for an allaince with the BJD, Union Home Minister Amit Shah Thursday launched a scathing attack on the Naveen Patnaik dispensation as he kickstarted the BJP’S campaign from Sonepur in the party’s stronghold of western Odisha for the Lok Sabha polls.

Shah invoked issues like Odia pride, corruption and misgovernance. “The incumbent government in Odisha has not only deprived the state of development but has also committed ‘ bhayan

kar bhrastachar’ ( massive corruption) through officers,” he said.

Given that ‘ distress migration’ is a major issue in the western region of the state, Shah said lakhs of youths from Odisha were migrating to big cities in search of work. “Throw out Naveen Babu’s government and bring BJP government in Odisha. I want to assure that no one will have to migrate from Odisha. Industries from outside will come to Odisha. The BJP will make sure of it,” he said.

He also targeted the BJD dispensation for neglecting Odia language, culture and literature. “The one who cannot glorify the language, culture and literature of the state, can never take the state forward,” Shah said.

For the first time, Odia pride has become a major election issue for the opposition to take on the BJD, in power in the state since March 2000. The issue became more prominent after the growing influence of former IAS officer and Patnaik’s close aide V K Pandian. Accusing the BJD government of trying to divert the issue of the Ram Temple consecration ceremony, Shah, for the first time, criticised the Patnaik government for its works in Puri, the land of Lord Jagannath.

“The government has tried to tarnish the glory of Mahaprabhu’s land of Puri in the name of tourism. I want to assure you that if BJP government is formed, we will develop Puri in line with the Kashi corridor project,” he added.

PTI Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Thursday.