‘BJP not running out of patience, will work to form govt in Odisha’

BHUBANESHWAR: Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday exuded confidence that BJP will form the government in Odisha in due democratic process, adding that it is working tirelessly to achieve that goal and has not run out of patience.
He said BJP’s rise from a two-member party in the Lok Sabha in 1984 to one of the world’s largest has a strong connection with Odisha and its presiding deity, Lord Jagannath, which very few people know of.
Speaking at an event to mark the launch of the Odia translation of a book titled ‘Amit Shah and the march of BJP’, Pradhan said in 1984 some miscreants had burnt down the wooden idols of Lord Jagannath in Ahmedabad. Two youths, then little known, had protested the arson, which led to a massive people’s movement, he said. The two are PM Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah, Pradhan said, adding that movement played a big role in laying the foundation of a stronger BJP after its 1984 debacle when it had won only two seats in the country.
Pradhan credited “iron-willed” Shah for being the architect of BJP’s poll wins after 2014. Shah has a big role in the party’s resurgence in Odisha too, he said.