BHUBANESWAR : Stung by the statement of BJD’s deputy leader in the Assembly and former minister Prasanna Acharya that four persons are running the government in the state, the BJP on Monday said the leader of the regional party is yet to digest its defeat in the elections.
Former president of state BJP Samir Mohanty told reporters here that the BJD is yet to accept the verdict of people. “Acharya seems to have forgotten that the BJD was not very keen to give him a ticket to contest the last election. I think his statement on the BJP government is to keep his party leader Naveen Patnaik in good humour and an attempt to safeguard his position within BJD,” Mohanty said.
The BJP leader further said, “It does not sound good when Acharya said the BJD government was run by Naveen and he was the only decision-making authority. People of the state knew well who was controlling the BJD and the government. He is well aware about the condition of previous BJD ministers, MLAs and leaders in the party.”
On Acharya’s claim about the undiminished popularity of Naveen, Mohanty questioned, “Why did the former chief minister lose Kantabanji seat to the BJP candidate by a margin of 16,344 votes, if he is so popular?”
He said Naveen lost the trust of the people for cheating them over the years. People voted BJD out of power as it failed to keep its promises in the last 24 years.
“The BJD’s internal conflicts are quite evident after it lost the election. Leaders of the party should introspect before making statements. As the BJP government has fulfilled its promises within 100 days of coming to power, the concerns of BJD leaders to the growing popularity of BJP are natural,” Mohanty added.
In an oblique reference to Acharya’s comments, Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday said victory and defeat are part of politics. One shouldn’t be overly excited by victory or disheartened by defeat.