Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday said the Biju Janata Dal, which was celebrating its silver jubilee, would survive another century if women empowerment remained central to its programme.
In a video message at Puri, where the party celebrated its 25 years of establishment, Mr. Patnaik said that the BJD was the party of Odisha, as only national politics would be the agenda of a national party. He added that Odisha would never be the focus of national parties, and only the BJD as a regional party could ensure the development of the State.
Also Read | Behind the BJD’s electoral successes in Odisha are women SHGs
“My only appeal is that women should come forward and take responsibility. If the party is blessed by women, the BJD would continue to serve people for 100 years, leave alone 25 or 50 years. The conch will continue to blow the victory bigul of the Odia pride,” said the BJD supremo.
Inspiring the youth
Mr. Patnaik called upon professionals, especially the younger generation from all walks of life, to join the BJD.
“The 4.5 crore people have given an opportunity to the BJD to serve them for the past 25 years. Leaders of other political parties often compliment me in the Parliament and other forum that the BJD is the most successful regional party ever. The BJD has been working on the basis of the faith reposed by the people,” he said.
“If we analyse as to why the BJD has been getting the blessing of people year after year, then some reasons or dimensions would emerge. First, a regional party’s only agenda is to give priority to the aspiration of the State’s people while rendering service to them. The BJD has never been distracted from this core agenda. Our first responsibility is to protect the State’s interest, ensure the State’s development and uphold the State’s pride, culture and language,” said one of the tallest regional leaders in the country.
“The second aspect is the ideals of Biju Patnaik. For me, Biju Patnaik was not a leader, but a phenomenon. He was completely futuristic and way ahead of his time. Odisha’s development and pride was in every drop of his blood. He was a great statesman and the party has been established on the basis of his ideals,” said Mr. Patnaik.
“The clean and corruption-free governance is the hallmark of the BJD. Our vested interest is the development of Odisha. We don’t have any vested interest except this,” said the Odisha CM.
“Since 2000, we have been emphasising on women empowerment. We strongly believe that the development of women would take Odisha forward. For this, Mission Shakti has turned into a mass movement. I have always said that if women are empowered, the family, the State and the country will become stronger,” observed Mr. Patnaik.
Removing regional imbalance
Stating that inclusive growth and removing regional imbalance was the foremost responsibility, he said the BJD stood for the entire Odisha, not just one group or one region or class.
The Odisha CM said the State had performed exceedingly well in the field of disaster management. Earlier, Odisha used to depend on other States for its food security, now it was exporting food materials to other States.
The BJD was founded on December 26, 1997, following the death of the legendary Biju Patnaik. Since then, the party has remained unchallenged in the State. Naveen Patnaik has been a five-time Chief Minister and is now preparing to win the election for the sixth time, in 2024.
The BJD has reinvented it from time to time through populist and innovative welfare programmes. Despite being in power for 22 years, the regional party has hardly faced anti-incumbency factor.
The Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday staged a Satyagraha (mass agitation) across the State as a mark of protest against the reported deteriorating law and order situation, in the BJD regime.
