Naveen Patnaik is taking no chances for the 2019 Odisha election

The Biju Janata Dal government in Odisha completed four years of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s fourth term on Monday. To mark the occasion Patnaik plans to hold a series of meeting with his party men to chalk out a strategy for 2019. What is threatening to spoil his party is the upcoming visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the state on May 26. Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan has already gone on record saying, “We will bring out documents on 36 massive corruption cases of the Naveen Patnaik government in its 18 years of rule. We will also apprise the people of the 48 achievements of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government at the Centre in its four years of rule.” Here is another battle to watch.
 
Outreach scorecard
 
After the Bharatiya Janata Party failed to form a government in Karnataka, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, it is learnt, has asked its media units to give details of initiatives undertaken by them targeting local media. The ministry wants to know if and how the Centre’s policies and initiatives were publicised in the regional media in the run-up to the Assembly elections in Karnataka. In the last few months, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting has worked hard to strengthen its outreach programme by deploying officers in key regions.
 
Antaraatma must speak
 
Bihar’s leader of Opposition Tejashwi Prasad Yadav has once again called for state Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s antaraatma (inner voice) to speak up. Criticising Kumar for his silence over the Karnataka political drama, he said the chief minister must break his silence on the issue as he was running a government in alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party in Bihar. “I hope my chacha (Nitish Kumar) must have heard the audio clip in which one can easily hear how (B S) Yeddyurappa is trying to lure Congress MLAs by offering money and cabinet berths. Is the antaraatma (inner voice) of Nitish Kumar not asking him to speak on the BJP?” said Yadav, adding that he cannot be selective on the issue of corruption.