The ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Odisha today strongly objected to BJP chief Amit Shah raising the issue of the missing keys of the Jagannath Temple's Ratna Bhandar and accused the saffron party of politicising the matter in the name of the lord.
Shah, while addressing partymen during his day-long visit to the state yesterday, had criticised the BJD government over the missing keys of the Ratna Bhandar.
"If a government cannot safeguard the religious sentiments of the people, how can it protect the interest of the masses?" he had asked.
Reacting to Shah's comments, BJD spokesperson and MP P K Deb said, "It is highly condemnable to do politics in the name of Lord Jagannath. Those who tried to do politics in the name of the lord in the past were ruined."
Rejecting Shah's claim that the Centre had given Rs 4 lakh crore to Odisha, Deb said, "He is making such statements because the BJP has run out of issues against the BJD."
Shah had also said Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had been unable to develop the state, despite receiving Rs 4 lakh crore from the Centre.
"Despite this, if the Naveen Patnaik government fails to develop the state, he should vacate the office," the BJP chief had said.
"He (Shah) is telling half-truths. The fact is that the Centre has changed the funding pattern for a number of centrally-sponsored schemes, because of which our state has suffered a lot," Deb said.
Stating that the people of Odisha were aware of the BJP's false propaganda, the BJD leader said they would teach the saffron party a lesson in the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
