Naveen’s ‘four vices’ responsible for Odisha’s downfall, says Shah

Bhubaneswar: BJP president Amit Shah here on Sunday hit out at chief minister Naveen Patnaik, saying his ‘four vices’ are responsible for Odisha’s ‘patan’ (downfall).
Speaking at an event after releasing the party manifesto for Odisha, where the state assembly goes to polls simultaneously with the Lok Sabha, Shah said, “Lack of Naveen’s long-term vision, lethargy, cravings to enjoy the power and corruption, these four evils have taken Odisha down.”

Stating that Congress provided a corrupt government in Odisha for long, Shah said people voted for BJD with high hopes. “But the manner in which Naveen ran the government in the past 19 years, I don’t have the slightest hesitation to say that Naveen babu led a government worse than Congress,” he said.

Shah said, “Naveen babu is dependent on bureaucrats while rendering elected representatives irrelevant by ‘backstabbing’ potential challengers.” “Saathion ka samman nahi karna, inke peeth par khanjar bhonk kar janata se bemukh kar dena, jo bhi bikalp ke rup mein ubherega , droh kar kar party se nikal dena, is bichitra prakar ki raajneeti inke samay par hua hai (According no respect to party colleagues, backstabbing them, throwing out any possible challenger; such strange political practices have been adopted during his time).

“Ignoring all democratic norms, Naveen babu gave rights of elected representatives to babus. Odisha is running without political leadership. Bureaucrats can never value people’s aspirations. This is the reason Odisha is lagging behind on all fronts despite being a land of immense potential and possibilities,” Shah said. He asked people to elect a chief minister who can speak and understand Odia.

In pre-independence days, Odisha had fought against the British forces for creation of a separate state on the basis of language. However, the commemoration of Odisha pride has not been valued, he said. Countering Shah’s statement, BJD spokesperson Sasmit Patra said Shah’s speeches were meant to boost the morale of demotivated party cadres of BJP. “The fear of a massive electoral defeat is showing on the faces of the BJP leaders and must be worrying Shah. So he is trying to shore up their spirits,” said Patra.