Elections 2024: “Naveen Patnaik’s 25-12 months Rule ‘Misplaced Years’ Of Odisha”: Amit Shah To NDTV

Amit Shah didn’t maintain again in his criticism of Naveen Patnaik’s governance

New Delhi:

Residence Minister Amit Shah, talking completely with NDTV, slammed Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s almost 25-year tenure by terming it the “misplaced years” of Odisha. 

The BJP’s intensive campaigning within the coastal state has been spearheaded by heavyweights like Mr Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. As Mr Patnaik inches nearer to changing into the nation’s longest-serving chief minister by eclipsing former Arunachal Pradesh chief Pawan Chamling, the BJP goals to show the tables and type authorities within the state.

“When the historical past of this nation is written, Naveen Patnaik’s 25-year rule might be generally known as the ‘misplaced years of Odisha’,” declared Mr Shah. “Many states in India, by enhancing their infrastructure, healthcare, financial system, and agriculture, are actually contributing massively to the nation’s financial system.”

Mr Shah identified that regardless of Odisha’s wealthy mineral sources, the state stays one of many poorest in India. “A number of states have finished properly within the final 25 years to eradicate poverty. In Odisha, earlier than Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Har Ghar Nal Yojna’, solely 4 per cent of households had consuming water amenities. Odisha is India’s most prosperous state as it’s blessed with big portions of minerals. On the identical time, the folks of Odisha are the poorest within the nation. The one purpose behind this contradiction is Naveen Babu‘s inaction,” Mr Shah advised NDTV.

“The folks of Odisha have seen the event of its neighbouring states and this time, most definitely, there might be a change,” he mentioned. 

BJP’s Imaginative and prescient For Odisha

Outlining the BJP’s plan for Odisha, Mr Shah confused the necessity for higher utilisation of the state’s sources. “At the moment the youth of Odisha exit and work throughout the nation. Odisha has an extended shoreline, it has rivers crammed with water and hardworking folks. If we make sure modifications to agriculture, irrigation, and crop patenting, make one of the best use of its wealthy mines and minerals, and enhance its infrastructure then inside a short while, Odisha might be counted among the many best-performing states within the nation,” he mentioned. 

In Odisha, simultaneous elections are being held, and in addition to the 21 Lok Sabha constituencies, the 147 state Meeting seats are additionally going to polls in seven phases. 

Mr Shah expressed confidence within the BJP’s prospects within the upcoming elections, saying, “We’re assured of profitable at the least 17 Lok Sabha seats and 75 Meeting seats in Odisha.”

When requested whether or not Odisha is a “greenfield undertaking” for the BJP, Mr Shah affirmed, “Certainly. I’ve been witnessing a wave of change for a very long time. Not simply in Odisha, but additionally in West Bengal, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and different states.”

The Ratna Bhandar Controversy

Mr Shah additionally addressed the contentious difficulty of the lacking keys to the Jagannath temple’s Ratna Bhandar (treasury), which has sparked a political row in Odisha. “The thriller of the lacking keys to Lord Jagannath’s Ratna Bhandar is nowhere near being solved. The keys have been misplaced, a probe crew was arrange, after which somebody alleged that faux keys have been made. Was the Ratna Bhandar opened or not? No readability has been provided by the Odisha authorities.”

The Ratna Bhandar, opened solely 4 occasions within the final century, has been central to the BJP’s ballot marketing campaign in Odisha. “Lord Jagannath’s Ratna Bhandar is a topic that shouldn’t be shrouded in thriller,” Mr Shah remarked. 

The Odisha authorities had in 2018 appointed an inquiry fee below retired Orissa Excessive Courtroom choose Raghubir Sprint to analyze the matter. One other panel below retired Supreme Courtroom Justice Arijit Pashayat was fashioned earlier this yr following the Odisha Excessive Courtroom’s directive to oversee the stock means of the property saved within the Ratna Bhandar.

On Naveen Patnaik’s Governance

Mr Shah didn’t maintain again in his criticism of Mr Patnaik’s governance, describing it as a “jhola chap sarkar” – a time period implying incompetence and dependency. 

“I typically name Naveen Patnaik’s authorities the ‘jhola chap sarkaar’ as a result of PM Modi provides 5 kg rice to the poor in Odisha however Naveen Patnaik takes credit score for that – our rice, his picture. Equally, the PM Awaas Yojana and the Har Ghar Nal Yojana got Odia names and brought credit score for. Schemes are being formulated by the Narendra Modi authorities however their credit score is being taken by Naveen Patnaik. Naveen Babu doesn’t know that the folks of Odisha are conscious of this.”

Strained Ties

As soon as thought of the BJP’s most dependable ally within the NDA, the BJD-BJP alliance noticed success in two meeting elections and three Lok Sabha polls in Odisha. The partnership, cast in February 1998, loved a robust basis, with each events efficiently contesting Lok Sabha elections in 1998, 1999, and 2004, in addition to meeting elections in 2000 and 2004.

The alliance collapsed in 2009 following failed seat-sharing talks. The breakdown was formally attributed to the BJD’s demand for a discount within the BJP’s share of meeting seats from 63 to round 40, and parliamentary seats from 9 to 6. This demand, deemed unreasonable by the BJP leaders, led to the withdrawal of help to Chief Minister Patnaik’s authorities, marking the tip of an 11-year political marriage. 

The withdrawal of help was termed by BJD as an “act of betrayal”.