Assam CM predicts BJP surge in Odisha

Bhubaneswar: AssamChief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday claimed that Odisha was hit by a saffron ‘’tsunami’’ and there is no doubt about the BJP forming government in the State.

The Lok Sabha and Assembly elections are held simultaneously in the State. Sarma, who has been campaigning in Odisha for the past few days, said, “When I held the first election meeting in Odisha, I saw a small wave in favour of the BJP.

But today, I saw a tsunami for the BJP in Mayurbhanj, Bhadrak and Jagatsinghpur areas.”

‘’I had witnessed a similar experience in Chhattisgarh where there was a small wave first and later it converted into a tsunami when the election came to an end,” Sarma said.

The people of Odisha, who have a long history of self-respect and pride, will never surrender before V K Pandian, a close aide of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and a bureaucrat-turned-BJD leader.

Pandian was born in Tamil Nadu, studied in Delhi and started his career as a Punjab cadre IAS officer, but shifted to Odisha cadre after marrying an Odia.

The BJP has been calling him an “outsider” in Odisha’s politics.

Sarma claimed his party is going to win at least 100 seats in the 147-member Odisha Assembly and 17 of the total 21 Lok Sabha constituencies of the State.

As cyclone Remal affected a portion of Assam, the Odisha Chief Minister has offered help to the State. Responding to this, Sarma said, “A small portion of the State was affected by the cyclone and it is under our control. If something major happens, I will seek help from Naveen Babu without any prestige issue.”

Reacting to BJD’s jibe that Assam’s debt burden is higher in comparison to Odisha, Sarma said, “My State’s budget size is Rs 1.20 lakh crore and I cannot compete with Odisha.

But, around 1 lakh government posts are lying vacant in Odisha, which means the State saves about Rs 500 crore every month.” Sarma said that his government is providing petrol at a price of Rs 96 per litre while it is Rs 101 in Odisha.