Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who had campaigned extensively in Odisha in the recent general elections, on Thursday claimed that the Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD) was finished and would soon be a part of history.

Sarma said: “BJD is finished. It will become history soon. The state unit of the BJP is working hard and will remain in power for at least the next 50 years.”

The Assam chief minister, who is the president of the Badminton Association of India, was here to inaugurate the newly-built Badminton High Performance Centre (HPC) at the Kalinga Stadium.

Sarma, who visited Puri, also shared his views on Bangladeshi infiltration. “NRC (National Register of Citizens) is necessary for checking illegal infiltration from Bangladesh.” Taking a cue from Sarma’s aggressive posturing, senior BJP MLA Jaynaryan Mishra said the BJD would soon be decimated in Odisha.

Amid the confidence shown by Sarma, the BJP’s Odisha in-chage Vijaypal Singh Tomar said the state BJP unit would have a new president in January and organisational elections will be held in the first week of January.

Renowned international badminton player P. Gopichand on Thursday called on the leader of the Opposition, Naveen Patnaik, at Naveen Nivas and expressed his gratitude for the establishment of a badminton high-performance centre in Bhubaneswar.

“It may be recalled that the badminton high-performance centre was an important sports initiative of the BJD government and was completed during the first half of 2024,” Naveen Niwas said in a release.

The badminton stadium has come up on an area of 3.04 acres and ₹55 crore has been spent for this purpose. The stadium has eight badminton courts with 500 seating capacity, a cafeteria, a gymnasium and a guest room. It was built with the assistance of the Odisha government under the supervision of Gopichand.