'Oust the corrupt BJD govt', PM Modi urges voters in Odisha rally

Bhubaneswar, May 11 Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday tore into the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Odisha, urging the voters to throw away the "corrupt" Naveen Patnaik-led state government.

Speaking at a rally in Kandhamal, PM Modi said: "Your one vote will bring a double-engine government in Odisha for the first time. Every single vote of yours is required for a Viksit Bharat and a Viksit Odisha. For this, you will have to elect all the 21 BJP candidates for Lok Sabha and elect BJP's candidates for Assembly seats."

PM Modi urged the people of Odisha to give the BJP five years, and he assured to make the state the number one in the country.

"I came here to give an invitation for the oath-taking ceremony of a BJP chief minister on June 10 in Bhubaneswar," PM Modi said, while stressing the party's emphasis on making a son/daughter of Odisha dedicated to Odia language and culture the chief minister.

PM Modi also targeted the ruling BJD over the issue of missing keys of Ratna Bhandar, the treasury of Jagannath Temple in Puri.

Around 70 years ago, rules were framed for the proper management of Jagannath Temple. One of the provisions was there to maintain the records of movable and immovable property, and precious treasure of Lord Jagannath in Ratna Bhandar.

"All the ornaments and precious stones were so large in quantity that evaluators could not complete the estimation. Officially, the Ratna Bhandar has not been opened for the last 40 years," PM Modi said.

PM Modi said during his address at Kandhamal that the keys of Ratna Bhandar have been missing for the last six years.

"The devotees of Lord Jagannath and the people of Odisha have the right to know what happened to the keys," he said.

PM Modi also said that the Odisha government on being asked about the matter said that it has the duplicate keys of Ratna Bhandar.

"Why were duplicate keys made? Is the Ratna Bhandar opened during the night using duplicate keys? Are the ornaments of the Lord stolen? The government has set up a Commission but its report has not been made public yet," said PM Modi.

Criticising the BJD, he questioned "whose sin the party is trying to cover up".

Taking a dig at CM Naveen Patnaik, PM Modi said that "Naveen Babu can't tell the names of 10 villages in Kantabanji Assembly constituency where he is fighting elections this time without the help of any paper".

PM Modi, during his speech in Kandhamal, also challenged CM Patnaik to tell the names of all the districts of Odisha along with their headquarters without seeing any paper.

"A chief minister who cannot even name the districts and its district headquarters without a piece of paper... how far he would be able to understand your pain and sufferings?" questioned PM Modi.

PM Modi further said that Odisha has plenty of resources while Gujarat has only salt.

"However, Gujarat is way ahead of Odisha in terms of economic development. Odisha is one of the richest states in India, but the people are struggling with poverty. Why are the people of such a rich state poor? You have lost 50 years, but it's time now to save Odisha, its self-identity, and the future of the children of Odisha," PM Modi said during his speech in Bolangir.

PM Modi said the entire BJD government has been outsourced. "A 'Super CM' is now there over the CM chosen by the democratically elected legislators," he added.

PM Modi, on a marathon election campaign in Odisha, addressed three massive public gatherings on Saturday in Kandhamal, Bolangir, and Bargarh Parliamentary constituencies.

The polling for Lok Sabha as well as Odisha Assembly will be held simultaneously in four phases in the state from May 13 to June 1.

Odisha has 21 Lok Sabha seats while the Assembly has 147 seats.

The results will be announced on June 4.

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