Bhubaneswar: BJD Supremo and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today lashed out at Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled States who are visiting Odisha for election campaigning.
Shri Patnaik said that the political tourists promising to make Odisha number one in the country should first concentrate on their own States.
Taking a dig at his Assam counterpart Himanta Biswa Sarma, the CM 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.”
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.
“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,” Shri Patnaik said.
He 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 CM’s political tourist jibe, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said, “How could the Prime Minister, Union Home Minister and BJP President be political tourists? He (Patnaik) could not arrange anyone to accompany him to campaigning, so he hired a person from Tamil Nadu.”