Patnaik attempting to garner sympathy ahead of 2024 election: BJP

Senior BJP leader Jay Narayan Mishra on Friday rejected BJD president Naveen Patnaik’s "anti-women" jibe at the saffron party and said the chief minister’s statement was not based on facts, but an attempt to garner sympathy of women ahead of 2024 general elections.

Patnaik in a video message immediately after the victory of BJD candidate Barsha Singh Bariha in Padampur on Thursday, had accused the state BJP leadership of disrespecting a grief-stricken woman who had recently lost her father. "I was hurt by the disrespect shown by the BJP towards the rookie nominee Barsha," he said.

Bariha scored an emphatic win against BJP’s Pradip Purohit by 42,679 votes.

Mishra, the Leader of Opposition in Odisha Assembly in a statement claimed that Patnaik has an old habit of creating new stories for getting sympathy.

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"If the Chief Minister's claim that BJP is anti-women was true, today Narendra Modi would not have established himself as the chief servant of the country, BJP would not have won in the Dhamnagar by-poll, more than 78,000 voters in Padampur would not have supported the party."

The Leader of Opposition also ridiculed the Chief Minister and his team over certain incidents where some women were alleged victims of BJD leaders and ministers and went scot free.

"Anganwadi and Asha sisters are sitting on the streets making certain demands leaving their children and families for days. This has never bothered the chief minister, but he has always tried to take political advantage of it," Mishra said.

On Patnaik’s allegation that union ministers were attempting to mislead the people of Padampur during election campaign, Mishra said: "The chief minister creates a riddle without giving a clear answer to the issues raised by the Union Ministers, which is his old practice".

Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had alleged that the Bargarh Road-Nuapada Road Via Padampur rail line could not progress as the state government did not provide land for the purpose.

Noting that winning or losing elections is a continuous process, the BJP leader alleged that the chief minister sees political advantage in each and every yojana Odisha's BJD government implements in the state.