‘Naveen Patnaik hurt honour of Lord Jagannath’: Amit Shah in Odisha

Union home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday lashed out at Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik, accusing him of ‘hurting’ the honour Lord Jagannath.

Addressing election rallies in Bhadrak, Jajpur and Jagatsinghpur in Odisha, Shah said,"The Naveen government has hurt the honour of Prabhu Jagannath. The four doors of the temple are not allowed to be opened. Today I want to question Naveen Babu, where are the original keys to Ratna Bhandar of Bhagwan Jagannath’s temple? Naveen Babu has to answer whether duplicate keys have been made."

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Continuing his attack, Shah said that on June 4, Naveen Patnaik will become the ex-chief minister of Odisha.

“The new chief minister of Odisha will be one who will be able to speak in the Odiya language, will be young and will be a devotee of Bhagwan Jagannath. After 25 years Odisha will get a chief minister who will speak and write in Odiya,” he added.

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"Odisha will no longer be governed by Babus and will be governed by a chief minister elected by its people. It is an election based on the pride of Odisha. Press the lotus button, instead of the Babus Jansewaks will rule Odisha. It is an election about Odiya language, culture, literature and art. No babus will be leading Odisha any more, whereas only a Jansewak who can speak Odiya will lead Odisha. The BJD’s 25-year rule was fruitless for the people of Odisha,” Shah added.

Blaming Patnaik for poverty in the state, Shah said,“Odisha is one of the most endowed states with huge mineral and never-ending water resources. But it also hosts a huge poor population and Naveen Babu is responsible for this poverty."

“The reason behind this poverty is that the benefits like mines, contracts and jobs are given to Tamils and not to local people. Naveen Babu should have contested the election from Tamil Nadu,” he said.

‘Naveen babu’s regime is govt of jholas': Shah

Accusing Patnaik of stealing credit for Centre's schemes, Shah said,"The Modi government is known for giving rice and the Naveen Babu government is the government of jholas (sacks). The free rice that Modi Ji sends Naveen Ji puts them in sacks with his photo and claims credit for it. "