Apr 17, 2025 06:42 PM IST
Odisha BJP president Manmohan Samal dismissed Patnaik’s remarks as ‘political rhetoric’, adding that it was unbecoming of a former CM to make such remarks
Bhubaneswar: Former Odisha chief minister and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) president Naveen Patnaik on Thursday said the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government should focus on the state’s growth and development instead of “demeaning the great sons of the soil”.
“Attempts are also being made to change history, but they should remember that history reflects the connecting experience of a nation over a period of time. It cannot be changed at anybody’s pleasure,” Patnaik said at a gathering of party workers on the occasion of Biju Patnaik’s death anniversary on Thursday.
Patnaik did not name the BJP or the state government led by chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi in his speech that comes against the backdrop of vandalisation of Biju Patnaik’s statues in Bolangir and Cuttack and renaming at least a dozen schemes over the last 10 months that had been originally named after Naveen’s father and former chief minister Biju Patnaik.
Odisha BJP president Manmohan Samal said Patnaik’s accusations were politically motivated. “We hold immense respect for Biju Patnaik, and today is meant for people to offer their tributes to him. His (Naveen Patnaik’s) statements are political rhetoric, and I think it is unbecoming of a former chief minister to make such remarks,” he said.
Patnaik is likely to be elected unopposed as the BJD president for the ninth time on April 19. He filed his nomination for the party’s top post. No one else from the party has filed against him.
The BJD, however, has been unable to name presidents of 15 districts following differences in the party after some of its Rajya Sabha MPs voted in favour of Waqf law. There are murmurs that some BJD leaders are discussing plans to float a new political front on Monday.
Senior BJD MLA Ranendra Pratap Swain has written to the BJD chief, calling for structural reforms within the BJD on the ground that the party had moved away from its social base. In his letter, Swain urged Patnaik not let a few individuals “hijack the BJD and distort the social fabric or deepen regional imbalance”.
