The senior BJP leader Sushma Swaraj today hit out at the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) supremo and Orissa Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik for breaking the 11 year old alliance between BJP and BJD.
Firing salvos at Patnaik, the fire brand BJP leader said, Naveen was able to rule the state only due to the unstinted support of the BJP. The party had to compromise on policy to keep him in power.
Citing the instance of the Kandhamal riots, where Swami Laxamananda Saraswati was murdered by some miscreants in August last year, she said, the accused fled away whereas the innocent people were put behind the bars.
Stating that coalition is different from making simple arithmatic, she said, the coalition was working very well in Orissa and this was vindicated in last 2 to 3 elections.
However, Naveen, under the impression that he can singularly win election, broke the alliance.
“Naveen has hurt himself with axe and he will be in problem”, she warned.
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BJD party didn’t have the required majority to form government and the support of the 32 members of BJP had enabled him to rule the state. She told the crowd that the party wanted to teach a lesson to Naveen for his betrayal in the coming elections.
“You were ruling on the strength of the alliance, but your government will be destroyed by the anger of the people due to the breaking of the alliance”, she rued.
Swaraj started and concluded her speech in local Oriya language much to the applause of the 35,000 to 40,000 strong gathering listening to her.
“Orissa was the first lingual state of the country and I am doing justice for the state by telling in Oriya”, she said, making broadside at Patnaik, who is not able to speak in Oriya despite being the chief minister of the state for nine years.
Criticising the UPA government for not taking any measures for setting up a branch of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), she said, Naveen broke the alliance at a time when the UPA could have been cornered for its failure.
Swaraj, however, termed the snapping of the alliance as a blessing in disguise for the BJP to come to the power of its own in the state.
Against this backdrop, she called upon the people to vote for BJP both in the assembly and Lok Sabha elections for security and development of the state, to fulfill the aspirations of Atal Behari Vajpayee and to make L K Advani, the Prime Minister of the country.