Baijayant Panda rejects Naveen Patnaik charge of centre bias

BHUBANESWAR: A day after Odisha chief minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik leveled allegation of neglect by the NDA government at the Centre, BJP national vice president Baijayant Panda on Friday his party had been concerned about Odisha since long, much before BJD was formed. “BJP has always been concerned about the state. Be it cyclone or any other natural disasters, the party leadership has always stood beside the state government,” said Jay Panda. “The charges levelled by CM are false. As far as cyclone and natural disasters are concerned, leaders from BJP have always visited the State . Whether BJP has been in power or in Opposition, the party has a commitment towards Odisha since long, much before the BJD was even formed,” said Panda. The former parliamentarian also added that the BJD was formed with the help of BJP and its leaders like Atal Bihari Vajpayee, L.K. Advani and Pramod Mahajan. All the national leaders of BJP helped in the formation of BJD and during its initial years.”

Responding Central negligence statement of Mr Patnaik, the BJP national vice president said that the CM was making such comments to take political mileage ahead of the elections.

“People are quite enthusiastic about bringing a ‘parivartan’ (change). There is tremendous undercurrent among people in the State to bring change in the government,” he added.

Earlier, on Wednesday, during a poll campaign rally in Ganjam, the CM Mr Patnaik had stated that BJP leaders are landing in Odisha only during election time whereas no one ever paid visit when cyclones and drought hit the State.