Amit Shah slams BJD, says no development done in 20 years

BJP president Amit Shah on Thursday attacked the BJD regime in Odisha for having failed to bring development despite being in power for nearly 20 years, and claimed that the saffron outfit would get a mandate in the 2019 Odisha polls in a much bigger way than Tripura. Shah was on a tour of the state.

"I want to tell people of Odisha, BJP is going to get more votes than we got in Tripura," Shah said.

"The verdict in Odisha is going to be bigger than Tripura," the BJP chief told reporters.

Attacking Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Shah said Patnaik was 'scared'. "Naveen Patnaik is scared, not me. He is scared because the youth have come with us," he said.

Earlier in the day, Shah criticised the ruling BJD for having failed to bring welfare to the people of the state, announcing that Odisha electorate wanted change.

"Anger towards the current government of Odisha is immense. Even after ruling the state for 18 years, the government is not able to provide clean water. I have seen the reactions of the people, and I can safely say that change is on its way for the state," Shah said.

The BJP chief also made it a point to establish the credentials of the party with Dalits in the aftermath of the ongoing Dalit protests following the Supreme Court judgment. He had a meal at a Dalit's residence in Bolangir's Deogaon during his visit to the state. Shah was accompanied by Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

Earlier, former BJD Minister Arun Sahoo said Shah's visit would have no impact on his party's prospects in the 2019 state Assembly elections. Recently, the BJP was defeated in the Bijepur assembly bypoll.