Dikhyaa Mohanty 
On Tuesday, BJD president and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik came under heavy fire from senior BJP politician and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who claimed that Patnaik was imposing bureaucracy on the state and had “insulted” Odia pride. He made this statement while speaking at a polling place in the Lok Sabha seat of Sambalpur, where Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan is running for office. On May 25, the constituency will have elections.
During the meeting, Home Minister Shah asserted that the BJP had already surpassed 310 seats following the conclusion of five rounds of voting. Additionally, he declared that if the BJP wins more than 75 seats in the Assembly, it will establish a government in Odisha. Shah further claimed that, under the guise of tourism, the BJD government has been actively working to destroy Lord Jagannath’s customs and culture.
The home minister claimed that although Odisha has abundant natural resources and is among the richest states in the nation, the state’s population is impoverished. He charged that the massive mining resources of the state were being looted by state officers and bureaucrats. Shah declared that if the BJP were to win this election, the state’s mining resources would not be exported outside of Odisha and that value addition to the resources would only take place within the state until a whole industrial chain had been established.
“We want to make an Odisha where not a single youth will be forced to go to Maharashtra, Haryana or Bangalore for labour leaving his wife and elderly parents here. He can get work in his home state. Odisha has a beautiful location, a long coastline, a huge store of mining resources and industrious youths but the state only lacks a Chief Minister who can work hard. Elect BJP to power in the state, we will make Odisha developed with a laborious and energetic young CM,” HM Shah added.
He alleged stepmotherly treatment towards the western part of Odisha by the BJD government.
