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VK Pandian, a close aide of Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik. (News 18)
After Maharashtra, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, the saffron party wants to follow this strategy in Odisha as well, Pandian claimed.
BJD leader and Odisha Chief Minister’s close aide VK Pandian said on Wednesday that the Bharatiya Janata Party was fighting elections in the state not to win but to gain more seats with the intention of defeating the Biju Janata Dal after the polls. He claimed that
The bureaucrat-turned-politician said this while meeting a group of journalists at Gopalpur in Ganjam district on Wednesday.
“They (the BJP) raised the slogan of securing 120 seats in 2014 but failed. I don’t know the target for 2019, but for 2024 they are holding elections to get 50/60 seats. We are fighting and aim to defeat the BJD after the elections,” Pandian said.
After Maharashtra, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh, the saffron party wants to follow this strategy in Odisha as well, he claimed.
Asserting that the Bharatiya Janata Party’s plans will not succeed, Pandian said many people from the national level are coming to campaign in the state, but the people of Odisha do not trust them. “Naveen Babu (CM Naveen Patnaik) is the trust of the people,” he said.
Reacting to his claims, senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Sameer Mohanty said there was no need for the saffron party to dissolve the Bharatiya Janata Party.
“The BJP doesn’t need to break the BJD. It will break on its own. There are some Eknath Shinde in the BJD who are always in touch with us,” he said.
Mohanty said the Bharatiya Janata Party is contesting the polls to form the government in Odisha.
Earlier, when asked if he was confident that he would become the chief minister for the sixth consecutive time, Padian assured that the BJD would win the elections with flying colors.
“If I had not had such conviction, I would not have said that Naveen Babu will be sworn in as CM on June 9 with Maha Prabhu Jagannath’s blessings,” he said. .
Mr. Pandian claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party does not have candidates in 60 of the 147 assembly segments in Odisha.
“They could wait for the BJD candidate list to be announced and pick up candidates from among the leaders we failed or rejected,” he said.
Pandian also slammed Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi, accusing them of trying to block the Shree Mandir Parikrama project (Jagannath Temple Heritage Corridor Project).
“They tried to stop the project through the ASI, the National Monuments Authority (NMA) and by filing petitions in the High Court and Supreme Court. They tried to stop the project from going off the rails. , and hired expensive lawyers,” Pandian alleged.
Mr. Pandian targeted Mr. Pradhan, claiming that he was rejected by the residents of his district, Dhenkanal.
“His party lost the panchayat and urban polls. So he fled and filed nomination papers from the nearby Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat. If he had done something good for Odisha, our CM would have shown tolerance by not pitting any candidate against him. The table was very bad,” Pandian said.
“Who is he?” Pradhan asked when reporters asked him about Pandian’s comments on his contribution to Odisha.
Replying to a question about the BJP raising the Odia Asmita (Pride) issue during elections, Mr. Pandian said the Central government has not given a single rupee for the promotion of Odia language.
He alleged that the BJP has eight MPs in Odisha’s Lok Sabha, but all remained completely silent while the Center was funding the promotion of other languages instead of Odia. did.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from Syndicated News Agency Feed – PTI)
