Bhubaneswar, July 5: Bha-ratiya Janata Party (BJP) pre-sident Amit Shah today reiterated that his party would come to power in the state in 2019.
He also vowed to usher in a "new era of development" in the state, ending the "misrule of 17 years". Shah exuded confidence that his party would win at least 120 of 147 Assembly seats in the state.
On the second day of his four-day visit to the state, Shah visited Jajpur district, another bastion of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in the coastal Odisha. During his visit, he also took launch in the house of a poor family.
Addressing a gathering at Panikoili, Shah said: "The BJP-ruled states have witnessed massive growth. The BJP will change the fate of Odisha in five years if it comes to power. There is no dearth of water and minerals in the state. But, I still wonder why its people are poor."
He also explained how the BJP-led NDA government was "generous" in releasing funds to the state compared to the UPA government.
"Despite these, the people are yet to get safe drinking water and other required infrastructure," he said.
Earlier today, Shah visited Binjharpur and held parleys with five villagers, after which he had lunch at a Dalit family's house.
Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan said: "We feel there is a change of wind. We have been given the task by the party president and we will do accordingly. The party will certainly come to power in 2019."
Commenting on the BJP's self-assertion that it would come to power in 2019, BJD vice-president and state minister Damodar Rout said: "It is like a daydream. They want to play the Dalit card here, but they are yet to realise that it will not click in the land of Jagannath. Let them first organise their base at the booth level, then only they can dream of coming to power."
The BJP-BJD tussle took a new twist when the Bhubaneswar Municipal corporation removed the hoardings of Amit Shah from the streets today. The civic body officials said they had removed the hoardings from the no-hoarding zones. "We removed the hoardings as they obstructed the banners of the Asian Athletics Championship," said a senior official.
BJP state general secretary Dillp Mohanty said: "As our national president Amit ji is here, they are scared of seeing the party's popularity. Removal of hoardings is an act of intolerance. Had they told us, we would have removed the posters and hoardings."
BJD spokesperson Pratap Deb said: "It is not the case of BJD versus BJP. Here comes the prestige of Odisha. It would have been better had the BJP itself removed the posters. Another thing is that the corporation had not removed the poster on the first day of his visit to Odisha."
Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Prasad Harichandan, however, said: "BJP president Amit Shah has come to Odisha to strike a deal with the BJD. Both the BJP and the BJD, which had earlier been the alliance partner in the state till 2009 general elections, are responsible for the state's poverty. Shah should apologise to the people of the state."
