TNI Digital Bureau: Biju Janata Dal (BJD) president and Leader of Opposition Naveen Patnaik held a campaign rally in Nuapada on Monday, accusing the ruling BJP in Odisha of neglecting the district’s development and failing to deliver on its promises. The rally comes ahead of the November 11 bypoll for the Nuapada Assembly constituency.
Addressing the gathering, Patnaik said that the BJP government had “betrayed the trust” of both the people and the BJD by stopping ongoing welfare and development projects over the past 16 months. Remembering his father, former Chief Minister Biju Patnaik, he said, “Whenever I visit Nuapada, I recall Biju Babu’s vision for this district. Every proposal brought by Raju Babu (late MLA Rajendra Dholakia) during our government was approved for Nuapada’s development.”
Patnaik questioned the government’s delivery on key welfare schemes, asking whether people had received free electricity, pensions, or fertilisers as promised. He also claimed that Mission Shakti women workers had gone unpaid for several months. Criticising what he called “rebranding without results,” he said, “There is no work, no progress, only publicity,” comparing the Centre’s Ayushman Bharat with the state’s Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY).
Urging voters to support BJD candidate Snehangini Chhuria, Patnaik described her as “closely connected to the soil of Nuapada” and appealed for their votes to “continue the district’s development journey.”
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Meanwhile, the BJP intensified its campaign in the constituency. On Sunday, BJP National Vice President and Kendrapara MP Baijayant Panda led a roadshow for BJP candidate Jay Dholakia, son of late MLA Rajendra Dholakia, who recently joined the BJP. Panda urged voters to support the party for “faster growth under a double-engine government.”
Naveen claimed that he was betrayed and maligned. He further added that People of Nuapada are angry with this betrayal and will give a befitting reply in the bye-election. He was referring to Jay Dholakia’s party switch at the eleventh hour. Jay, son of late Raju Dholakia, had dumped BJD to join BJP as their official candidate.
The bypoll campaign has gained momentum amid internal challenges within the BJD, following several recent defections. The exit of former Rajya Sabha MP Amar Patnaik to the BJP on the same day as Naveen’s rally added to the party’s political setbacks, coming shortly after Jay Dholakia’s switch.
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