Bhubaneswar, Dec. 2: Union finance minister Arun Jaitley's praise of chief minister Naveen Patnaik during his visit to the city yesterday has left local BJP leaders and cadres demoralised and confused.
A week ago, BJP president Amit Shah lambasted the Naveen Patnaik government for its all-round failure at a party rally held in the city, where he had called upon the people to throw it out of power. "States such as Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Maharashtra have progressed, but Odisha has remained where it was. What is the use of having such a government, throw it out," he had thundered, asking people to make a beginning in the upcoming panchayat polls.
The party's aggressive posture against Naveen, however, was missing yesterday when Jaitley came to the state capital to attend the Make in Odisha Conclave.
While Jaitley was given a warm welcome by the state government at the conclave, Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who is being projected as the poster boy of the party in Odisha, was sidelined.
Contrary to the party line, Jaitley heaped praises on the Naveen Patnaik government. "Odisha has progressed significantly in alleviating poverty in the past 20 years. The number of poor has come down by half. The economic growth of the state government is really praiseworthy," said the minister. He also said Odisha had the potential to be an economic power such as Japan, Taiwan, China and South Korea and promised to extend all support from the Centre for the realisation of the Odisha government's "Vision-2036".
Jaitley also did not forget to thank Naveen for his party's support to the GST Bill. Though Naveen has been stating time and again that his party, the BJD, maintains equal distance from the BJP and the Congress, it has extended support to the Narendra Modi government on some crucial issues.
The BJD had also helped the NDA government get the MMDR (amendment) Bill passed in the Rajya Sabha.
Soon after the conclave, Naveen invited Jaitley for lunch at his home and they drove to Naveen Nivas together, where they spent more than half an hour.
State BJP leaders had no knowledge of Jaitley's luncheon meeting with Naveen and they kept waiting for him at BJP-sponsored function at a hotel. Jaitley arrived an hour late for the programme where he delivered a talk on Indian economy.
The local BJP leaders, who are gearing up to fight the Naveen-led BJD in the panchayat polls just a couple of months away, found themselves in an embarrassing position because of Naveen-Jaitley bonhomie.
After Shah's November 25 rally, the local BJP leaders and cadres were very much charged up. But,they have been left demoralised after yesterday's incident. "What are we going to tell the people, when a Union minister praises Naveen Patnaik," asked a senior BJP leader requesting anonymity.
Today also at the Make In Odisha Conclave's valedictory function, Union coal minister Piyush Goyal praised the Naveen Patnaik government for its "outstanding vision" for 2036.
Senior Congress leader Narasingha Mishra said: "We have always been talking about the secret deal between the BJP and the BJD. Now, it has been exposed."
