BHUBANESWAR: Union home minister Amit Shah Tuesday predicted that BJP will win more than 75 assembly and at least 17 of the 21 Lok Sabha seats in Odisha. "On June 4, Naveen babu will become ex-CM," he said, reiterating that after winning the polls, BJP will appoint a 'bhoomiputra' (son of the soil) who speaks Odia and respects the local culture as the chief minister.
Keeping up his attack on Naveen's close confidante V K Pandian without naming him in back-to-back rallies in Bhadrak, Jajpur and Jagatsinghpur seats, Shah said, "The Tamil babu has taken control and now dreams of becoming the CM of Odisha. Naveen babu has given mineral resources, contracts and jobs to Tamils. He (Naveen) should have contested from Tamil Nadu, not from Odisha, as several people from the southern state have benefited from Odisha's mineral resources, contracts and employment opportunities."
Shah said Naveen and his 'Tamil babu' stopped Odia people from celebrating 'Ram Mahotsav' in Ayodhya in January. Raking up the issue of the missing keys of Puri Jagannath temple's Ratna Bhandar, Shah sought an answer from Naveen about the whereabouts of the treasury's original keys, saying he was answerable to the people of the state on this issue.
Debabrata Mohapatra is an Assistant Editor at The Times of India,...
Read MoreDebabrata Mohapatra is an Assistant Editor at The Times of India, Bhubaneswar. He had been writing for TOI from Puri since 2006 before joining the Bhubaneswar bureau in August 2010. He covers crime, law & order and Congress.
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