Amit Shah sticks to his guns; refuses to criticise Odisha CM

Reported by Sandeep Sarangi
Bhubaneswar, Jan 7:

Just as he had done at the ‘Mahasangram’ rally yesterday, BJP President Amit Shah steadfastly refused to make direct, pointed and personal criticism of Odisha Chief Minister despite repeated proddings from media persons here today.

“I did criticise the BJD government on its development record. I raised the chit fund issue too. But if you want me criticise Naveen Patnaik personally, I would request you to leave the decision to me,” Shah said when grilled by media persons about his refusal to attack the Chief Minister at a press conference here this evening.

The BJP chief hastened to point out that all state leaders who spoke ahead of him at yesterday’s rally lambasted the Naveen Patnaik  government. “Every leader who spoke before me took the Naveen Patnaik government to task. When something is said in my presence, it is obvious that it has my concurrence,” he said.

Shah made it clear that the state unit of the party, which had taken to the streets against the misrule of the BJD government, has the full support of the party. “As you know, they have launched a Mahasangram campaign. The party is fully behind the campaign and we will take it to its logical conclusion,” he said.

Sounding upbeat about the future of the party in Odisha, the BJP President said; “I have no doubt that the BJP will do well in Odisha in future. I am happy with the way things are going for the party as of now. I am sure the BJP will form the government in 2019 elections on its own. We have a plan for this and we are moving ahead as per the plan.”

Answering a question on indiscipline and factionalism in the party with reference to the suspension of vice president Ashok Sahoo, he said “I don’t know about disciplinary action taken against anyone. The state unit will decide on these issues.”

On the chit fund scam, the one issue on which the Naveen Patnaik government is on the backfoot, Shah played it safe saying a lot of people would not have lost their hard money had the scam been investigated properly earlier.

Curiously, the Congress, which was the target for much of his speech at the rally yesterday, figured nowhere during the press sonference today.

The rest of the BJP President’s interaction with the media was a mere repetition of what he had said at yesterday’s rally about the poor development record of the BJD government during its 14-year long rule: electricity to only 43% of homes, safe drinking water to just 14% of the people, toilets in just 22% of homes and 46% people below the poverty line and other such stuff.

For good measure, he also rattled off the achievments of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre: the Swachh Bahrat campaign, the success on support price for farmers at the WTO, the Adarsh Gram Yojna by MPs, creation of 100 smart cities, Ganga cleaning, ending policy paralysis and streamlining defence procurement, setting up of Skill Development Ministry and appointment of a minister and secretaries to work closely with Make in India campaign and generate employment.

Turning his attention to the economy, Shah said the NDA government took over when the country was growing at 4.6%, but brought it up to 5.7% within just six months of rule. “We have been successful in arresting inflation and bringing down prices, which makes an average family save Rs 1500 a month,” he said.

Reiterating his party’s commitment to federalism, Shah said; “The development requirement is different for different states. So we closed down the Planning Commission and started the NITI Ayog. We will follow the federal structure and consult CMs of the states and work on the formation of a Team India for the betterment of the country.”

Clearly irritated by the persistent questioning on his refusal to speak against Naveen, the BJP President truned combative at several points during the press conference.

At one point, Shah asked a journalist to ask questions that were ‘up to his standard’ (“level ka sawaal puchha karo”). At another, he sarcastically suggesed to a female journalist that she should “take an interview later”.

Shah started the press conference on a wrong note pronouncing the name of the state as ‘Urissa’, only to correct himself after media persons pointed out the mistake to him. He followed it up with another goof up later when he said the ‘High Court’ had ordered the CBI inquiry into the chit fund scam.

Senior BJP leaders and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, Jual Oram and Odisha BJP Preseident KV Singhdeo were present with Shah at the press conference.