War of words between BJP & BJD intensifies

Bhubaneswar: The ongoing war of words between Odisha’s ruling BJD and the Opposition BJP began to get shriller on Sunday over the saffron party calling upon the chief minister Naveen Patnaik to participate in a debate with Union petroleum and natural gas minister Dharmendra Pradhan on contribution of their respective parties to the development of the state.

BJD spokesperson Pratap Keshari Deb, while saying that his party accepted the BJP’s challenge, put a condition that the CM would share the dais if Prime Minister Narendra Modi participate in the debate.

“Let the Prime Minister come and share dais with the CM. The PM should say what contribution his government has made for Odisha. If the PM does not come, I along with our BJD ministers are ready to participate in the debate with the Union minister Mr Pradhan,” said Mr Deb. Ostensibly to put the BJD in embarrassment, the BJP put a condition for the debate. The party said Naveen has to participate in the debate only in Odia language, the mother-tongue of Odias.

The Odisha chief minister who landed in the state in 1997 after the regional BJD was formed in 1997 cannot speak Odia. He always reads out his Odia speech written in roman scripts by his public relations officers.

“We are ready for the debate — but with a condition. The chief minister should put forth his views in Odia without referring to his Odia speech written in Roman script,” BJP leader Prithwiraj Harichandan said.

While addressing party workers here on September 8, the BJP president Mr Shah had alleged that although the Narendra Modi government had given nearly 4 lakh crore to the Odisha government under various schemes, the latter had failed to utilise them due to its “non-performing” character.

 He even doubted that portions of the funds were siphoned off by BJD leaders and a section of bureaucrats.

The BJP supremo also raised the multi-crore mining and chit fund scams and blamed the BJD government for patronizing the culprits involved in them.

He exhorted the party workers to ask chief minister Naveen Patnaik to furnish before the utilization of each penny and actions he has taken against the culprits involved in various scams and scandals.