Bhubaneswar: A day after BJP President Amit Shah claimed that the saffron party would form the government in Odisha in 2019, veteran BJD leader and Agriculture Minister in Odisha Government Dr. Damodar Rout on Wednesday hit back at the BJP chief saying, “Lotus can’t bloom in saline water (coastal Odisha).”
Shah had said that the BJP would win the 2019 general election in Odisha with two-thirds majority and the people of Odisha will see a BJP-led Government in the state, while addressing the “Mo Booth, Sabuthu Majbooth” Programme at Hugulapata village in Kukudakhandi block of Ganjam district on Tuesday.
“Odisha is a rich state, but became poor because of scams, corruption and misgovernace under Naveen Patnaik rule,” Shah said. “What the Modi Government has given to Odisha in the last three years is far more than what the State got in the 25 years prior to 2014.”
Responding to Shah’s expectations on 2019 general election, Rout stated that the visit of BJP chief would not affect the people of costal Odisha, a strong bastion of the ruling BJD.
The veteran BJD leader also claimed that his party will win at least 120 Assembly seats in the 2019 general election.
The BJP has only 10 MLAs in the state assembly now, mostly from the western part of the state.
During his 3-day long tour of Odisha, Shah is visiting various coastal areas of the state attending the party programme “Mo Booth, Sabuthu Majbooth” with a view to strengthen the party organisation at the grassroots level in the state.
Ms Kalinga