Union home minister Amit Shah on Monday refrained from attacking chief minister Naveen Patnaik but vowed to turn Odisha into a BJP fortress.

Addressing the virtual Odisha Jansamvad (public dialogue) rally that was streamed across various social media platforms as part of the BJP’s celebration of the Narendra Modi government’s six years in office, Shah said: “The BJP plans to make Odisha an impregnable fortress of the party. We are committed to the development of the state. It is our promise. Prime Minster Narendra Modi is working for the development of the state. People from Odisha will no more need to migrate to other states.”

He recalled how 92 lakhs Odias had reposed faith in Modi’s leadership and sent eight members to the Lok Sabha from the state.

Shah, who had spewed venom against Naveen ahead of the last general elections and equated his government with a “burnt transformer”, on Monday not only refrained from attacking him but also praised Odisha government’s handling of the migrant labourer crisis.

Political observers feel that Shah does not want to strike a discordant note at a time BJP and Naveen-led BJD appear to be coming closer.

Shah spoke at length about Modi government’s contribution towards the development of Odisha and compared it with the preceding UPA government. “During UPA 1 and II, Odisha had received only Rs 79,486 crore. But during the last six years of Modi rule, the state has received more than Rs 5,52,107 crore (Rs 5.52 lakh crore),” he said while presenting a list of schemes that have been initiated in the state during the NDA regime.

“The first year of the second innings of Modi should not be seen in isolation,” he said and gave a list of programmes like Ayushman Bharat, Ujjwala, Pradhan Mantri Dhan Yojana, PM Kisan and other schemes that have been going on for some time and gave details of the funds involved in running these schemes.

He also recalled how Modi had flown down to Odisha in the wake of Fani and Amphan cyclones and immediately released money to help the state carry out rehabilitation and reconstruction work. Shah also made it clear that his party continued with its Look East policy, which envisaged holistic development of all the states of eastern India, be it Odisha, Bengal or the Northeast.

Shah claimed that India had fared much better than many other countries of the world in its battle against Covid-19 and called upon the countrymen to fight the pandemic unitedly.

“We should unite in this war against corona. The best way to win this war is to ensure a distance of two gaja (yards),” Shah said, adding that it was the reason the BJP thought of organising a virtual rally to connect with the people.

The home minister was critical of the Opposition, particularly the Congress, for its irresponsible behaviour during the crisis triggered by Covid-19. He also took a jibe at Rahul Gandhi for making big claims about the achievements of UPA government.

Shah recalled the surgical strikes and airstrikes conducted against Pakistan by India and said people now had faith that if there was one nation apart from the US that could conduct operations inside the territory of another country to defend itself, it was India.

“India is capable of protecting its borders,” he asserted.

The home minister was, however, tight-lipped on the stand-off between Indian and Chinese armies on the Ladkah border.

Touching upon the scrapping of Article 376 and 35 (A) and tripe talaq, Shah said the BJP was now planning to build a grand Ram Mandir at Ayodhya.

Addressing the rally, Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan said people in more than 50,000 villages were listening to the speech of Amit Shah who had come to present the report card of Modi government. He also listed various initiatives of NDA-II government for Odisha.

Senior BJP leaders, including Union minister Pratap Sarangi, were present at the rally.

Naveen Patnaik (PTI)