Berhampur: BJD leader and 5T Chairman V K Pandian today claimed that BJP is fighting this election with a strategy to break the ruling BJD after enhancing its number in Assembly.
Speaking to a few media persons at Gopalpur, Shri Pandian said, “They (BJP) had a slogan of securing 120 Assembly seats in 2014 but failed. I do not know their target for 2019. But, for 2024, they have been fighting elections to win 50/60 seats and aim to break the BJD after the elections. This is their poll strategy.”
Claiming that the BJP is not fighting this election to form Government in the State, Shri Pandian said, “I openly say that this (breaking BJD) is their internal strategy as they have done in Maharashtra, Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh.”
Asserting that the BJP’s plan will not succeed, Shri Pandian said many people from the national level are coming for campaigning in the state, but the people of Odisha have no trust in them. “Naveen Babu is the trust of the people,” he said.
When asked about BJP’s plan to rope in central leaders for campaigning, the second top leader in BJD said the BJP has done similar things in 2014 and 2019 also, but the people will never trust them. “The people will bless Nabeen babu in a big way,” he said.
Shri Pandian said that they (BJP) have no candidates in 60 of the 147 Assembly segments in Odisha. They waited for the release of BJD’s candidate list so that they could pick up candidates from among the leaders dropped or rejected by the regional party. “This is the reality of the BJP in Odisha,” he said.
He claimed that BJD will come to power for the sixth time with a thumping majority. However, he did not disclose the possible number the BJD will achieve in this assembly polls.
“Had I not such conviction, I would not have said that Naveen Babu will be sworn in as CM June 9 with blessings of Maha Prabhu Jagannath,” he said.
The bureaucrat-turned politician lambasted Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi for attempting to stall the Srimandi Parikrama Prakalpa of Lord Jagannath in Puri.
Both the BJP leaders were completely exposed in Srimandir Parikrama Prakalpa. It showed their commitment to Lord Jagannath, Odia Asmita (pride) and Jagannath culture. They tried to stall the project through ASI, National Monuments Authority (NMA) and by filing petitions in the High Court and Supreme Court. They also hired an expensive lawyer to ensure the project does not take off, he pointed out.
Shri Pandian further alleged that the Opposition leaders had declined the invitation to attend the foundation stone laying and inauguration of the Srimandir Parikrama Prakalpa. “The CM had kept this project above politics and written to all leaders, inviting them for the events. I had also telephoned them personally,” he claimed.
Though Shri Pradhan’s native seat is Dhenkanal, he preferred to contest from Sambalpur because he did nothing for the area even after serving as Union Minister for 10 years, the BJD leader said.
“If he would have contested from Dhenkanal, I would have saluted him.
Not only Dhenkanal, Shri Pradhan has not done anything for Odisha. if Dharmendra had done any good for Odisha then Naveen would have not fielded a candidate against him in the Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat,” he said.
When asked about BJD’s performance in the first phase of elections to be held on May 13, he replied, “In undivided Koraput district, the fight is mostly against Congress. In Kalahandi, Congress has some presence in 2-3 segments. Ganjam will witness one-sided fight as people have much faith in the CM and love him dearly.”
Replying to a question on BJP raising the Odia Asmita (pride) issue during elections, Shri Pandian said that Odisha is his karmabhoomi and Odia is the mother tongue of his two children. “I have an emotional connection with the state. I love Odisha and will continue to work for it,” he added.
He further told media persons that the BJP Government has not given a single rupee for the promotion of Odia language. Though the BJP has 8 MPs in Lok Sabha, all of them remained completely silent while the Centre was providing money for the promotion of other languages and not for Odia language.
When journalists sought his reaction to Shri Pandian’s statements, Shri Pradhan asked “Who is he?”.