BJP to contest Odisha polls alone, says Amit Shah

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah on Thursday said his party would fight the 2019 assembly polls in Odisha alone and get over 120 of the 147 seats.

"The BJP will have no alliance for the assembly elections but come to power in Odisha with two third majority," Shah told reporters in Bhubaneswar.

He said it was yet to be decided on who would lead the state BJP in the next assembly elections.

"Some think it is impossible to get 120 seats and form the government in Odisha. But, let me tell you they (political rivals) have grown old whereas the BJP has young leadership," Shah said.

"A BJP wave is blowing across the country and it will come to Odisha very soon," the BJP chief said while pointing out that the party formed a government in Manipur in 2017 while it did not win a single seat in the last assembly elections in the north-eastern state.

Criticising Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for celebrating an award given by a news magazine to him, Shah said an award cannot take the state forward when the government was involved in corruption.

He accused the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government in Odisha of not cooperating and thus grounding several projects even though the Centre had allocated over Rs 4 lakh crore.

"Works of around Rs 4 lakh crore have been declared by the Centre for Odisha. But, we are not getting the state's required support to take up the developmental projects. In comparison to other states, Odisha is far behind despite central support," Shah said.

He said the people associated closely with the government were involved in multi-crore chit fund and mining scams.

On the Mahanadi water dispute between Odisha and Chhattisgarh, he said the process was on to constitute a tribunal to resolve the issue and assured that the Centre would not allow Odisha to be deprived of the river water.

"The Modi government has made several provisions for the uplift of poor Dalits and backward classes. Free cooking gas connections and bank accounts for all are some of the reformative steps taken by the Narendra Modi government, which the previous government never thought of. Development was halted during the Congress rule," the BJP president added.

Shah is on a three-day visit to Odisha to galvanise party workers for the 2019 assembly polls. The BJP has just 10 MLAs in the assembly.