Bhubaneswar: BJD president Naveen Patnaik Friday termed the BJP government in Odisha “incompetent” and accused the ruling party’s “double-engine” dispensation of tarnishing the state’s image through a series of failures.
Patnaik launched the attack while addressing a public meeting in the North Bhubaneswar assembly constituency as part of the BJD’s annual ‘Jan Sampark Pada Yatra’, which began October 2 on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti.
Claiming that Odisha had emerged as a model state for rapid development during the BJD’s tenure from 2000 to 2024, the former chief minister expressed dismay over what he described as the failure of the BJP government to sustain that progress.
The “incompetent double-engine government” had completely tarnished the state’s image in just two-and-a-half years, he alleged.
“I urge you all to take this message of the ‘double-engine’ government’s failures to every household and raise public awareness about the issues,” Patnaik said.
Paying tribute to Utkalmani Pandit Gopabandhu Das on his 149th birth anniversary, Patnaik said the BJD believed in service and development.
Also Read : Bengal: BJP candidate wins Nandigram bypoll by a record margin of 1,22,753 votes
On October 2, while launching the party’s mass outreach programme, Patnaik had accused the BJP government of protecting the interests of mine owners instead of fighting for people’s rights.
He had also opposed the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2026, claiming that it deprived the state of its rights over mineral-bearing land.
The BJD has opposed the legislation, alleging that it would deprive the state of Rs 1 lakh crore in revenue from levies on mine owners.
The party has been demanding its repeal and had organised a massive rally in Bhubaneswar during the monsoon session of the state Assembly.
While Patnaik has attended the padyatra twice so far, BJD leaders have been marching across the state to raise awareness about the alleged failures of the BJP government led by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi.
Apart from the new mining law, BJD leaders are highlighting alleged large-scale errors in school textbooks, the deletion of over 27 lakh eligible voters from electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), and law-and-order issues, party senior vice-president Debi Prasad Mishra said.
Orissa POST – Odisha’s No.1 English Daily
