Naveen Patnaik trying to impose Tamil CM on Odisha, alleges Amit Shah

Union home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday alleged that Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik is trying to impose a Tamil CM on the people of the state and said that they have tolerated Naveen Babu but will not tolerate this Tamil babu in his name.

Targeting Tamil Nadu-born former bureaucrat and Patnaik’s close aide VK Pandian, Shah during a public meeting at Chandbali in Bhadrak district said, “The people of Odisha sacrificed their lives and fought valiantly against Samrat Ashoka. But today, Naveen babu is trying to impose a Tamil CM on the people. People tolerated Naveen Babu but we will not tolerate this Tamil babu in your name.”

Shah asked whether the government in Odisha should be run by an elected leader (CM) or any Tamil babu. “The elections here are a battle for Odisha Asmita (pride). Are you ready to allow a Tamil Babu to run the government from behind the curtains? A Jan Sevak will run the government if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is voted to power,” he said.

Shah alleged that Pandian had stopped the people of Odisha from attending the grand Ram Mandir Utsav. “Will the people of Bhadrak tolerate any kind of disrespect to Lord Jagannath? Should all the gates of Jagannath temple be opened and the temple run as per traditions,” he asked.

Raising the issue of the missing keys of the Ratna Bhandar of Jagannath temple in Puri, Shah asked Naveen Patnaik about the original keys of Ratna Bhandar. “Duplicate keys were made and Naveen Babu should answer why the keys were made and why the inquiry report is not being made public? Whom the BJD government is trying to protect? Vote BJP to power, and we will make the report public within a month,” said Shah.

He said despite being rich in natural resources, the people in Odisha are still poor. “It is only CM Naveen Patnaik to be blamed for this situation. Vote BJP to power here and we will ensure that no youth will have to leave the state in search of work,” he said.

He further claimed that BJP would win 17 Lok Sabha seats in Odisha and form a party government in the state by winning more than 75 Assembly seats. “Poll results will be declared on June 4 and Naveen Patnaik will become the former chief minister. The state will get a young CM and a devotee of Lord Jagannath will be at the helm. After 25 long years, Odisha will get an Odia speaking chief minister,” he added.

Meanwhile, Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma lashed out at Pandian, claiming that Patnaik was being held captive by Pandian, restricting the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader’s ability to interact independently.

Sharing a video on X, where Pandian was purportedly seen hiding the shivering hand of Patnaik behind the podium while he was addressing a rally, Sarma said that he is concerned about the future of the state.

“This is a deeply distressing video. Shri VK Pandian ji is even controlling the hand movements of Shri Naveen Babu. I shudder to imagine the level of control a retired ex-bureaucrat from Tamil Nadu is currently exercising over the future of Odisha!” he said.

HT Could not verify the authenticity of the video.

However, BJD national spokesperson Sasmit Patra claimed that the more Biswa Sarma campaigns in Odisha, the higher will be the margins of defeat for the BJP’s candidates in the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in the state.

“The more he campaigns, the Odisha BJP candidates will end up with a bigger defeat, higher margins of defeat and many losing their deposits. We therefore request Odisha BJP to retain him till end of campaigning on 30th May, so that his hilarious and rubbish statements will lower Odisha BJP more in the eyes of the people of Odisha, reduce more votes of Odisha BJP candidates,” said Patra.