Concentrate on your own States, retorts Naveen

Bhubaneswar: Lashing out at visiting Union ministers and chief ministers of BJP-ruled States, BJD chief Naveen Patnaik on Saturday said that ‘’political tourists’’ promising to make Odisha number one in the country should first concentrate on their own States.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and chief ministers of BJP-ruled Assam, Chhattisgarh and Haryana are campaigning for party candidates in Odisha, where simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections are underway.

Taking a dig at his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma, the Odisha Chief Minister said in a video message, ‘’The per capita deficit (debt) of his State is double that of Odisha.

He should really look into the matter in his own State. The people of Odisha are laughing at them.’’

‘’BJP CMs and Central ministers are coming to Odisha and promising to make it number one in the country. I think they should first concentrate on their own States,’’ Naveen said. Naveen claimed such ‘’political tourists’’ visit Odisha ‘’only during elections and then they disappear’’ and their speeches have no effect on the people of the State.

Responding to the Chief Minister’s ‘’political tourist’’ jibe, Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan said, ‘’How could the Prime Minister, Union Home Minister and BJP president be political tourists? He (Neveen) could not arrange anyone to accompany him to campaigning, so he hired a person from Tamil Nadu.’’