New Delhi: Kickstarting his campaign in Odisha Monday from Biju Janata Dal (BJD) chief and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s constituency, Berhampur, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that 4 June — the day the results will be announced — would be the “expiry date” of the Patnaik government and that the first Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) CM of the state would be sworn in on 10 June.
The Lok Sabha and assembly elections are being held simultaneously in Odisha. The state will go to the polls in four phases starting from 13 May.
“The BJP will decide its CM candidate on 6 June and he or she will be sworn in on 10 June. I am here to invite you all to the oath-taking ceremony… and I am sure you will not reject the invite like some had rejected the invite for the Ram temple consecration ceremony,” the PM said amid cheers of “Modi, Modi” in the background.
At a second rally in Nabarangpur in Koraput district later, Modi reiterated that the BJP’s chief minister would be “a person of the soil”. “Odisha ka beta ya Odisha ki beti hi yehan the CM hoga, bahar wala nahin banega. Jo Odisha ki mitthi, yehan ki sanskriti ko apne mathe pe laga kar chalega…” he said.
In a marked departure from his previous address in Jajpur on 5 March, where Modi had praised Patnaik while inaugurating and laying foundation stones of projects worth Rs 20,000 crore, the PM attacked the BJD for Odisha’s poor development and for blocking central schemes like Ayushman Bharat and the Jal Jeevan Mission.
At the 5 March event, Modi had called Patnaik a “popular CM”, sparking off speculation about a possible alliance in the state. The PM had also lavished praise on Naveen’s father and former CM Biju Patnaik’s legacy, calling his contribution to the development of Odisha “incomparable”.
The subsequent attempt at a pre-poll seat-sharing deal with the BJD fell through, resulting in both parties going it alone in the state’s 21 Lok Sabha constituencies and 147 assembly seats.
There was absolutely no bonhomie Monday.
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In Berhampur, Modi took the battle to the BJD camp and blamed the Naveen Patnaik government for the lack of development and poor implementation of central schemes in the state. In Nabarangpur, he accused the BJD government of corruption by not letting the people of the state get the benefit of central schemes.
“For the first 50 years after Independence, the Congress was in Odisha followed by the BJD for the next 25 years. Odisha has abundant water, fertile land and is mineral rich… It has a large coastline, Berhampur is a trade centre… then why is it that despite being so rich, Odias have remained poor?” Modi asked in Berhampur.
He went on to ask why the highest levels of out-migration occurred from Ganjam, CM Patnaik’s constituency, why hospitals were without doctors and schools without teachers.
“Modi has never denied a budget for Odisha’s development,” the PM said, adding that while the previous UPA government, “remote controlled by Sonia Gandhi”, gave just Rs 1 lakh crore to the state in their 10 years, the Modi government had given Rs 3.5 lakh crore since 2014.
“But just sending money will not work. You need a good government in the state. The BJD government does not implement schemes. They also cheat by putting their own stickers on central schemes and pass it as their own. They have to resort to this cheating because they have not done anything,” Modi told the crowd.
The PM said Odias were not getting the benefits of the Rs 5 lakh annual health insurance under Ayushman Bharat or the Rs 6,000 financial aid to pregnant women because the BJD had blocked the schemes in the state. “No mother of Odisha will spare the BJD,” Modi said.
Modi also announced the plethora of schemes that the BJP will launch if it comes to power. He said the BJP’s manifesto talks about these, including the Subhadra scheme that promises every woman a cash voucher of Rs 50,000. It can be encashed over two years.
Calling himself the son of Lord Jagannath, and urging people to give the BJP a chance to serve them, Modi said, “This son of Lord Jagannath, who is sitting in Delhi, will definitely work for you. We will work and make Odisha the number one state in the country.”
The PM said every state that had voted for the BJP, like Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, had seen rapid development. “….after a double-engine government is formed in Odisha, there will be rapid development here too,” Modi said.
Modi also made a personal request to the people at the rally. “Please go and meet as many people as possible and tell them Modi has said ‘Jai Jagannath’ to them. Once you give them my message, they will give their blessings to me and I will get energy. This energy will be to your benefit,” the PM added.
(Edited by Tikli Basu)
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