Bulldozers will be rolled out against mafia in Odisha: Yogi

Bhubaneswar: Uttar Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Yogi Adityanath on Thursday said if the ‘double-engine’ government is formed in Odisha, bulldozers will be used against the mafia. During the last 20-25 years, the “officer raj” has “pushed Odisha to 50 years back”, he claimed, alleging that the ruling BJD is playing politics with the future of youths in the State.

Addressing an election rally in Chilika Assembly constituency under Puri Lok Sabha seat, Yogi said, “Give us strength to form a double-engine government in Odisha so that we can clear the path by running bulldozers on ‘land, sand, forest and cattle’ mafia in the State, as we did in Uttar Pradesh.’’ The term ‘’double-engine’’ is used by BJP leaders to refer to the party being in power at the Centre as well as in a State.

“The BJD government is surrounded by bureaucracy and when the bureaucracy surrounds any government, it gives birth to dictatorship. Then corruption rises, the poor are exploited and the administration collapses,” he alleged.

In an apparent reference to Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s aide and bureaucrat-turned-BJD leader V K Pandian, Adityanath said, “An officer should not be given so much freedom that he starts controlling the government. Only elected public representatives should govern the State, which is the basis of a healthy democracy.”

He claimed that the BJD’s “misrule” is because “Naveen babu has been surrounded by bureaucracy and he has been misled by bureaucrats”.

“Power generated from Odisha is being provided at a cheaper price to other States. What kind of misrule is this?” he asked.

The BJP leader also accused the BJD government of ‘’destroying’’ the Odia culture and said the Narendra Modi government has brought Ram Lalla to his birthplace in Ayodhya after 500 years. Alleging that the Congress and TMC have been playing politics with religions, Adityanath claimed, ‘’Policies of INDIA bloc parties promote terrorism, Naxalism and corruption’’.

“Religion-based reservation is against the spirit of our Constitution. Only India-origin SC, ST and backward communities should get the benefit of reservation,” he said, referring to a Calcutta High Court order against the TMC government’s move to include Muslims under the OBC category.

The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday struck down as illegal the OBC status of several classes in West Bengal granted since 2010, sparking a political debate in the middle of the Lok Sabha elections.

The court observed that the inclusion of 77 classes of Muslims in the list of backward categories was to ‘’treat them as a vote bank’’. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, ‘’India earned respect in the world and its territories are secure’’, Adityanath said, adding that “terrorism and Naxalism have been eliminated”.

“Now, when a firecracker goes off in India, Pakistan comes up with a clarification that it has no role in the blast. Because, Pakistan knows that this is new India, Modi’s India, which will not tolerate when one creates any mischief,” the BJP leader said.

“Some people, who are residing in India and fed by the country, are making statements in favour of Pakistan. These people are also praising our enemy country Pakistan. I want to tell such people to go there,” he said. The country is providing free ration to 80 crore people, while 23 crore citizens of Pakistan are reeling under hunger, Adityanath claimed.

“In the last 10 years, Modi has lifted more people from poverty than the population of Pakistan. Modi is providing free healthcare services up to Rs 5 lakh every year to 60 crore people. But, in Odisha, a Tamil babu has not allowed the scheme to be implemented,” Yogi said at another rally held in the Mahanga Assembly constituency under Kendrapara Lok Sabha seat.

His allusion was to V K Pandian, who was born in Tamil Nadu, studied in Delhi and started his career as a Punjab cadre IAS officer, but shifted to Odisha cadre after marrying an Odia.

Adityanath appealed to voters to help the BJP form a ‘’double-engine’’ government in Odisha, claiming that his State Uttar Pradesh has become a model for good governance. The BJP leader asserted that the wave in favour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi has now ‘’turned into a tsunami’’ and the target to cross the 400 Lok Sabha-seat mark will be fulfilled on June 4, the day parliamentary election results will be out.