Kendrapara: Former BJD MP Baijayant Panda, who recently joined the BJP, Monday spewed venom at the Naveen Patnaik government, accusing it of being corrupt and sheltering criminal elements.
Addressing his first public meeting here after joining the BJP, he alleged that the BJD has forgotten the ideology of legendary leader Biju Patnaik.
“It has become a safe haven for goons and persons involved in the multi-crore chit fund scam,” Panda, now a BJP national vice-president, alleged at a public meeting in Ichhapur under Kendrapara constituency that was represented by him twice.
Panda, who joined the BJP March 4 after quitting the BJD a year ago, alleged that individuals with dubious credentials and corrupt bureaucrats are running the government.
His meeting was organised a day after Patnaik attended a women’s convention in this coastal district.
Claiming that the state government has failed miserably on law and order, Panda said, “Safety of women is at stake as there has been virtual breakdown of law and order machinery across the state.”
He also accused the BJD government of failing to generate employment for youths and there has been exodus of lakhs of Odia people to overseas and developed states of the country.
Panda was elected to Lok Sabha twice from Kendrapara seat in 2009 and 2014. Before that, he was a two-time Rajya Sabha MP.
He is expected to contest the polls from his home turf, the Kendrapara Lok Sabha constituency, on a BJP ticket.
PNN