India will be free from BJP rule, says PCC chief Niranjan

Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today said the results of Assembly election in Chhattishgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan reflected the mood of the people.

        Congratulating the Congress, Mizo National Front and TRS he said, “ The results reflect the mood of the people.”

        “ I congratulate the Congress, TRS, and MNF for their electoral victory. All these states that have gone for election are predominantly agrarian states. The Central BJP government has done very little for the farmers as regards MSP and implementation of MS Swaminathan Committee recommendations,” he said.

        Responding to a media query over the possibility of an alliance or the ‘Mahagatbandhan’ ahead of the 2019 general elections in Odisha, Patnaik said BJD remains equidistant from both BJP and Congress.

“Though we have extended issue-based support, we remain equidistant from both BJP and Congress. There is no firm ‘Mahagatbandhan’ now and let’s see what happens in future,” said Patnaik.

On a question over the ongoing Mahanadi dispute keeping in view that the BJP government has been toppled in Chhattisgarh, Patnaik expressed hope of finding a resolution soon.

The BJP’s cry for a ‘Congress-Mukt Bharat’ took a beating in the recent assembly elections to three states ruled by it with the grand old party ready to wrest power in Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, while going neck-and-neck in Madhya Pradesh.

Buoyed by the latest trend in results even as the counting is on, president of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) Niranjan Patnaik said that the time has come for the country to be free from the BJP rule as the people have rejected the communal and capitalist policies of the BJP.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi had claimed that he will make India a Congress-free country. Now that the BJP has suffered a big blow in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and is on the verge of losing its grip on Madhya Pradesh in the Assembly elections and that too, in the Hindi-speaking states. The time has come for the country to be free from the BJP rule,” Niranjan told mediapersons here.

Patnaik said the BJP had promised a lot of things to the people to win their confidence. But in due course it had all been proved hollow, he added.

“The demonetization of high value currency, implementation of Goods & Services Act and spiraling petroleum prices spelled doom for the saffron party. The NDA government at the Centre also failed to fulfil its promise of providing employment to youths in the country,” he said.

Patnaik also slammed the BJD government in State alleging it had failed to deliver the goods.

“The BJD also cheated the people in the State to return to power. Farmers in State were committing suicide due to loan burden and do not get adequate price for their produce. The Law and order situation has deteriorated and education is in a dilapidated condition,” the PCC president added.

The people of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajastan have reposed faith in the Congress as they have realized the true character of the BJP, Patnaik said.

Asked whether the anti-incumbency factor, which is reflected in the Assembly poll results in Chhattisgarh, will be repeated in Odisha, the OPCC president said “We hope that the manner in which the people of Chhattisgarh rejected the 15-year rule of the BJP, the people of Odisha will reject 18-year rule of the BJD government.”