The ruling Biju Janata Dal(BJD) in Odisha and the BJP seem to be heading for yet another temporary halt to their newfound bonhomie. This was evident from the latest war of words between the senior leaders of both the parties.
The fresh verbal tussle was initiated by the BJP when its senior leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan launched a scathing attack against the BJD chief Naveen Patnaik and his government during his one day Odisha visit last Sunday.
The former Madhya Pradesh chief minister while addressing a party membership drive programme as well as at a press conference subsequently accused the BJD government of failing on every front. “The BJD government has no roadmap for the development of the state”, the senior saffron leader said.
He also launched a personal attack against Patnaik by saying that the five-time chief minister failed to learn his mother tongue, Odia, despite ruling the state for nineteen long years.
The regional outfit wasted no time in giving a fitting reply to Chouhan. The party’s senior legislator, Sashi Bhusan Behera, a former state finance minister, said people in the state elected the BJD government for a fifth term just two months back and this itself was an appropriate answer to critics like Chouhan.
Observers link the latest BJD-BJP verbal conflict to the coming crucial by-poll for Bijepur Assembly seat which was vacated by chief minister Patnaik after his election to the Odisha house from two constituencies during the April polls. The relationship between both the parties will be cordial again once the by-poll, date for which is yet to be declared, is over.