Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday launched fresh attack on the Opposition parties by terming them ‘anti-people and anti-development’. Patnaik made such remarks while addressing Biju Janata Dal's Jan Sampark Padayatra launched on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti today.
“The Opposition parties are not happy with Odisha’s development journey. Now misleading people with false information has become their sole job. It happens whenever elections come. But people always have rejected them for this,” said Patnaik.
Patnaik further went on to add, “People well very know about the Opposition’s ‘anti-people and anti-development’ strategy. The Opposition are trying to stall and conspire against the Lord Jagannath and Lingaraj temple project.” The BJD supremo said that the people of the state will never forgive them for this.
This is not the first time that the CM Naveen Patnaik has taken a jibe at the Opposition. In his statement in Odisha Assembly recently, Patnaik had termed the Opposition ‘anti-people’ and said that they cannot return to the House for such activities.
BJP MLA, Suryabanshi Suraj said, “The way allegations are being levelled against the Odisha government, it seems that the government is trying to escape by blaming the Opposition.”
Suraj questioned, “In the last 23 years of BJD’s governance, the state registers over 1300 murders and 3100 rapes every year. The state ranks 14th in development of infrastructure and 13th in law and order situation in the country. It clearly shows who is anti-people. In today’s situation, lakhs of people are staging demonstrations at Lower PMG.”
“If the Odisha government claims that grievances cell has reached people’s doorstep, then why scores of people are forced to stage demonstrations in Bhubaneswar,” questioned Suraj.
Congress leader, Sudarsan Das said, “I am surprised the way a leader like Naveen Patnaik is terming Opposition as anti-people. I urge him to respect democracy and Opposition which acts as shadow government as it brings to fore the loopholes of the government.”
Das said, “The CM should introspect that there is no internal democracy in BJD.”
Senior Congress leader, Narasingha Mishra said, “CM Naveen Patnaik has been elected five times and he is expert on how to win elections. I want to ask those, who are claiming that they are wining on development, whether they know the meaning of development?”
One state and country prospers if there is development of education. The CM should know this elementary thing, said the Congress leader.
“The CM should not speak by reading out a piece of paper and his statement is not based on facts,” Mishra added.
State BJP Spokesperson, Anil Biswal said, “There is now a talk over anti-people and CM is calling Opposition anti-people. But anti-people are in CM’s own party and he has sent them for anti-people campaign. Will the Odisha government release a white paper on the number of industries, irrigation, employment, number of cold storage set up and others?”
Biswal further said, “In the last 23 years, Odisha has not developed rather it has fallen behind. The Odisha government is running development propaganda.”