BJP, BJD lock horns over CM’s jibe at Oppn

Bhubaneswar: The BJD and the BJP on Saturday hit out at each other over Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s ‘shocked’ jibe against the Opposition in the State, as the two parties listed good and bad incidents that had happened during his tenure in recent years.

Naveen, also the BJD president, had claimed at the party’s executive meeting on Friday that the Opposition parties were shocked over the rapid transformation taking place in the State and they did not have any issue using which they can indulge in ‘’misinformation campaign’’.

Mocking the Naveen government, senior BJP leader and Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan said, ‘’Can anyone say in which State a Cabinet minister is killed in broad daylight by a policeman?’’ Health minister Naba Kishore Das was shot dead by an Assistant Sub-Inspector of police in Jharsuguda district on January 29 this year.

Pradhan also alleged that of the 4.5 crore population of the State, nearly 1 crore people migrate in search of jobs in different States. The Union Education Minister asked: ‘’Are these (signs of) transformation? If that is the case, then Lord Jagannath is the only solace for the people of Odisha.’’

The ruling BJD was quick to hit back, claiming that BJP leaders sought to “defame” Odisha for their narrow political interests.

‘’Odisha hosted the World Cup Hockey twice. The Reserve Bank of India appreciated Odisha for being the No.1 State in India for having the best financial management and loan management,’’ BJD spokesperson Sasmit Patra said.

Odisha was acclaimed internationally as the best State in disaster management and other transformational initiatives, he said. ‘’And Odisha BJP leaders and Pradhan never said a good word,’’ Patra pointed out.

Pradhan gets upset when people of the State feel proud about Odisha doing well, Patra claimed.

‘’They twist facts in order to defame Odisha at every possible opportunity… People have given a befitting reply to them in the past for doing such politics and will also give them a similar reply again in the coming days as well,’’ he said.