Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday called upon people to throw out the Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government in Odisha and give the BJP a chance to serve them.

Launching the party’s campaign from Sonepur he said that Odisha would develop only if it had a “double engine” government with the BJP ruling both at the Centre and the state. “Aaap 20 kamal bhejiye tabhi hum 400 paar karenge,” the home minister told the gathering in the western Odisha town.

This was Shah’s first public meeting in the state since the collapse of the BJP-BJD alliance talks. Shah urged the people to dethrone the Naveen government, which has been ruling the state uninterrupted for the past 24 years.

“Dethrone the Naveen Patnaik government and bring the BJP to power in Odisha. I assure you if we have power no one will have to go out of the state in search of jobs,” he said in an obvious reference to seasonal migration of labour from western Odisha districts in search of work.

Though Shah refrained from directly attacking the chief minister he made it amply clear that the state had not made desirable progress under the BJD government. “You have given 25 years to the Naveen government. Now give the BJP a chance for five years. We will make the state number one in the country with our double engine government,” he said adding, “Odisha’s language, culture and pride can thrive only if there is a BJP government in the state.”

Shah also hinted about officer raj continuing in the state. He said with massive corruption taking place at every level the state has been deprived of development. The Union minister also came down heavily on the Naveen government for hijacking central programmes. “Modi government is giving 5kg rice to the poor, but the Naveen government is putting its stamp on it and taking credit. Your state has also not implemented the Centre’s Ayushman Yojana,” he said and hit out at the state government for trying to take credit for the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

Shah spoke at length about the Modi government’s contribution towards the development of Odisha and compared it with the work done by the preceding Congress governments.

“During the 10-years of the Congress, Odisha had received only Rs 1.45 lakh crore. But during the last 10 years of Modi’s rule, the state has received more than Rs 4.81 lakh crore. Besides, the state has also received money for infrastructure, railway and airport development,” he said while presenting a list of schemes initiated in the state during Modi’s regime.

To strike a chord with the Odias, Shah said once the BJP government comes to power, it would make Puri like Kashi Viswanath.

“The state government tried to divert attention from the Ram Mandir inauguration ceremony, but the people of Odisha celebrated it.”

The party decided to launch its campaign from Sonepur in western Odisha as it is considered to be the stronghold of the BJP. All five Lok Sabha seats from the area were won by the BJP in 2019. It is important to mention that Naveen is also contesting from the Kantabanji seat in the western belt along with his traditional Hinjili seat to counter the influence of the BJP in the region.