By Nalini Sahu
\nBhubaneswar, March 16: Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, appearing unperturbed over the recent reverses in Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha bypolls and Bijepur assembly bypoll defeat, – came down on the BJD accusing the latter of entering into a \u201ctacit pact\u201d with the Congress to prevent the BJP from coming power in the state in 2019.
\nMr Pradhan, who arrived here to a rousing welcome by state BJP leaders after being elected to Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh, – said the BJD headed by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik was apprehensive of retaining power in the state in next elections and hence it had joined hands with the \u201ccorrupt\u201d Congress.
\n\u201cIn the last 18 years, the BJD has only sold dreams to people of Odisha. They have pushed to the state to the brink of underdevelopment. The youths and common people have started believing the development agenda of the Narendra Modi government, and hence, they have now made the BJP the number two political force in the state. I\u2019m sure, people will give us the responsibility to form the government in 2019,\u201d said Mr Pradhan.
\nDismissing the impact of the BJP\u2019s defeat in Bijepur assembly bypoll on the party\u2019s electoral prospects in the 2019, the Union minister said the saffron party had managed to garner more votes than 2015 elections.
\n\u201cIn Bijepur bypoll, the BJD and Congress joined hands to defeat the BJP. And again, they are planning to fight the next assembly polls together to keep the BJP at bay. The BJP has realized their game-plan and redrawing its strategy,\u201d said Mr Pradhan.
\nThe BJD reacted to Mr Pradhan\u2019s remarks saying the Union minister was spinning an improbable theory to confuse the public.
\n\u201cThe Union minister Mr Pradhan must read history. Biju Patnaik, father present Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, was a strong critic of former Prime Minister and Congress leader Indira Gandhi and Naveen continues to fight against the same party. There is no question of the BJD joining hands with the Congress,\u201d said senior BJD leader Debi Prasad Mishra.
\nSources said the welcome celebrations were part of a well planned strategy made by Odisha BJP to rejuvenate party in the state after the recent Bijepur<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Nalini Sahu Bhubaneswar, March 16: Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, appearing unperturbed over the recent reverses in Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha bypolls and Bijepur assembly bypoll defeat, – came down<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[991,71,181,66,990],"class_list":["post-11287","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-top-stories","tag-bijepur","tag-dharmendra-pradhan","tag-naveen","tag-odisha","tag-rajya-sabha"],"yoast_head":"\n