Bhubaneswar/Puri, Jan. 20: In his November 25 rally in the state capital, BJP president Amit Shah had given a call to dethrone Naveen Patnaik. Back in Odisha today, Shah reiterated his stand and urged party cadres to go all out against the BJD government.
Before leaving for Puri to take part in the concluding ceremony of the establishment of Bimla temple at Govardhan Peetha, the abode of Shankaracharya Swami Nischalananda Saraswati, the BJP chief held a closed-door meeting at the party headquarters in Bhubaneswar and asked leaders to take on the Naveen government after the rural polls.
Sources said that Shah told senior party leaders: "Try to do your best in the panchayat polls and then go all out against this government."
As Shah spoke, state BJP president Basant Panda, Union tribal affairs minister Jual Oram, petroleum and natural gas minister Dharmendra Pradhan and state BJP in-charge Arun Singh were in the audience.
Exhorting party leaders to put up a good show in next month's panchayat polls, Shah called upon them to work hard to make the BJP a force to reckon with in the state.
Shah said: "If we could form a government in Assam in adverse circumstances, there is no reason why can't we succeed here."
Taking on the state government, Shah said that BJP-ruled states like Assam, Haryana and Rajasthan had surged ahead, while Odisha was still lagging behind. He said this was the right time to launch an all-out offensive against Naveen Patnaik and his government.
And this, Shah said, should begin immediately after the panchayat polls.
Shah, who is on his second visit to the state in the last one and a half months, arrived at the party office two hours late around 3pm. He was brought to the party office in a procession led by a convoy of motorcycles.
At the meeting, Shah was apprised of the party's preparations for panchayat polls and also shown a video on its preparedness.
The party president praised leaders from Odisha for their organisational work. He said things had improved drastically from the time when BJP candidates would find it difficult to file nominations even for the post of ward members.
Pradhan said Shah was in the state on the invitation of the Puri Shankaracharya and Puri king Gajapati Dibyasingh Deb to take part in a cultural programme. He, however, took out time to meet state BJP leaders and discuss party affairs, the Union minister said.
Emerging from the meeting, Oram said Shah exuded confidence about the party doing well in the panchayat polls.
State unit vice-president Samir Mohanty said Shah was also apprised of vigilance raids on the cooking gas agency of Pradhan's brother. Sources said former minister Bijoy Mohapatra, who has a tense relationship with Pradhan, and BJP legislature party leader K.V. Singh Deo were not present at the closed-door meeting.
Shah later had "darshan" of the deities at the Jagannath temple in Puri before taking part in the Bimla temple consecration ceremony at Govardhan Peetha. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, Puri king Gajapati Dibyasingh Deb and Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan also attended the event.
Shah said his home state, Gujarat, had a fascination for Jagannath cult. He backed Shankaracharya Nischalanand Saraswati right in having the final say in matters pertaining to disputes relating to the Jagannath temple. The Gajapati, too, endorsed Shah's view.
RSS chief Bhagwat spoke about the need for moral education. He said good education always began at home.
