Bhubaneswar, March 6 Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday blamed the opposition BJD for the backwardness of Odisha, which has been ruled by the regional party for 24 years, and accused the Congress of indulging in "negative politics".
Shah was addressing a public meeting here after launching developmental projects worth Rs 3,275 crore.
The senior BJP leader launched a scathing attack on the two opposition parties a day after BJD and Congress jointly fielded a common candidate in a seat from the state in the Rajya Sabha elections to thwart the saffron party's bid to secure it.
Accusing the grand old party of indulging in "negative politics", Shah cited a "shirtless protest" by Youth Congress workers at a recent AI summit in New Delhi, in which representatives from 80 countries, including 20 heads of nations, had participated.
"When the whole world was lauding India's progress in the field of artificial intelligence, Congress leaders made a motivated attempt to defame the country by removing their shirts in public," Shah added.
While condemning the act, Shah mocked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, saying, "I want to tell Rahul ji that you have failed in launching (getting acceptance of people as a politician) yourself 20 times. I doubt you will achieve the goal even on 100 attempts if such activities of your party leaders continue..
Shah also accused the Congress of pushing politics towards the negative direction and said that through such actions, the oldest party of the country is writing its own story of political decline.
On the fight against Naxalite insurgency, he said, "The country will be completely free from Naxalism by the end of this month. The Modi government is working at double-speed for every tribal who has been deprived of development due to Naxalism."
Sharpening his attack on the previous Naveen Patnaik government in Odisha, the senior BJP leader, who for the first time addressed a public meeting in the state after the 2024 general elections, alleged that the regional party government treated the people's mandate as a "compulsion rather than a blessing".
He also alleged that though the BJD ruled the state for over 20 years, it stalled all the developmental activities and did nothing for the progress of tribals, women and others.
The Naveen Patnaik government had not taken any step to promote the cooperative sector and dairy industry, he claimed.
"Odisha remained deprived of development under the BJD government for 20 years," Shah said.
He, however, expressed satisfaction that the people have changed the government and installed an 'Odia-speaking' chief minister who can understand their happiness and miseries.
"We had appealed to the people to vote for the BJP in the previous election and people of Odisha gave 20 of the 21 seats to the saffron party which contributed to the formation of the NDA government at the Centre," he said.
Shah also thanked the people for ousting the BJD government and bringing BJP to power in Odisha.
"The BJP is now taking Odisha on the path of development as it has done in several other states such as Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Assam. We prioritise dairy and cooperative societies which boost the rural economy and empower women," Shah said.
He cited the implementation of Subhadra Yojana, under which over 1 crore women are getting financial assistance of Rs 10,000 per annum, and grant of Rs 3,100 per quintal on paddy to farmers.
Shah said India has now emerged as one of the fastest growing economies, with its growth rate being above 8 per cent.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has entered into a trade agreement with many countries, which will further boost the country's economy, he said, adding that the Modi government at Centre and Mohan Charan Majhi rule in Odisha will certainly place Odisha in the list of developed states in India.
Referring to India's three new criminal justice laws, exhibition of which was at the meeting venue here, the Union home minister said that any FIR registered after 2028 will be resolved within three years.
"After 2028, legal processes (up to Supreme Court) in any case registered in any police station of the country will be completed in three years," he said.