The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)

‘Should Odisha be run by a Tamil babu?’ Shah attacks CM Naveen’s aide Pandian

CONTINUING THE BJP’S attack on Odisha’s ruling BJD over the issue of Odia Asmita (Odia pride), Union Home Minister Amit Shah asked whether the state should be ruled by a “Tamil babu” – a reference to former bureaucrat V K Pandian, who is from Tamil Nadu and is now the BJD’S top election strategist.

Pandian, meanwhile, exuded confidence in the BJD’S electoral prospects,sayingthep­artywould win 90-95 per cent seats in the final phase as its stronghold­s go to the polls on June 1. He said the BJP had scored multiple “self-goals”, includingl­eadersfrom­outsidethe state using “abusive language” against Odisha’s “most popular” Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

Addressing a rally Tuesday at Chandbali, under Bhadrak parliament­ary constituen­cy, Shah accused Patnaik of trying to impose a Tamil CM on Odisha. Pandian is Patnaik’s close aide.

Referring to the Kalinga War of the third century BCE, Shah said, “Odisha had fought against Samratasho­kaforitssw­abhiman (self-respect). Many Odias sacrificed their lives, but didn’t bend.”

“Today, however, Naveen Patnaik is trying to impose a Tamil CM on Odisha. Naveen Babu, we have tolerated you, but we can’t tolerate a babu in your name,” he said.

Odisha is holding Lok Sabha and state Assembly elections simultaneo­usly. The election, Shah said, is about Odia Asmita.

“Will you agree if a Tamil babu runs the government from behind the scenes? If you vote for Bjp,ajansevak(people’sservant) will rule the state instead of a babu,” he said on his last day of campaignin­g in the state.

Expressing confidence that CM Patnaik would become excm after June 4, Shah said, “Odisha’s new CM will be someone who can speak Odia, a young CM, someone who is a devotee of Lord Jagannath.”

Onthesamed­ay,pandiansai­d at an interactio­n with the media in Bhubaneswa­r that among the many “self-goals” scored by the BJP, the first one was the accusation­s raised by the party regarding the Ratna Bhandar (treasure trove) of the famed Jagannath Temple in Puri, in which CM Patnaik’s and Pandian’s names were dragged in. “The people of Odisha do not appreciate these words,” said Pandian.

He alleged that the BJP would stop several of the state government’s schemes if they came to power,includingt­hewomenemp­owerment initiative Mission Shakti, and the Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana health insurance scheme. Another of the BJP’S selfgoals, he said, was that while the Odisha government provides scholarshi­pto98%ofstudents,and announced that the amount wouldbeinc­reased,thebjpmade nomentiono­fitintheir­manifesto.

“The youths of the state know that the BJP manifesto has no vision at all,” said Pandian.