Dikhyaa Mohanty 
Amit Shah, the Union Home Minister, chastised the Naveen Patnaik government on Tuesday for passing off the Center’s free ration policy as their own. During his rapid campaign swing through Odisha, Shah spoke at three consecutive rallies in the state (Bhadrak, Jajpur, and Jagatsinghpur). During election rallies, he boasted about the welfare policies of the Modi government, claiming that 4 crore pucca dwellings, 12 crore toilets, and free rations for nearly 80 crore impoverished people nationwide were delivered.
“Narendra Modi’s government is Chawal Wali Sarkar because it is providing free ration to the poor while Naveen Babu’s government is ‘Jhole Wali Sarkar’ as it merely adds jhola (bag) to the ration,” said Shah.
He further quipped, “Naveen Babu, you should have increased the amount of rice. Jholas (bags) can’t satiate the hunger of poor but added ration could have served the purpose.”
Leading the BJP campaign in the final round of voting, Shah accused Patnaik of being the cause of the state’s poverty, backwardness, and young flight. He went on to say that a young person from Odisha will assume state leadership this time.
“Odisha deserves a Chief Minister who is Odia, who is young, and who is a devotee of Bhagwan Jagannath. The BJP will win, and after 25 years, Odisha will finally be getting an Odia Chief Minister,” he reiterated at multiple rallies in the state today.
