Union home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday exuded confidence about his party forming the first-ever BJP government in the state on its strength. He also asserted that the BJP would win 17 Lok Sabha and 75 Assembly seats in Odisha.

Odisha has 21 Lok Sabha and 147 Assembly seats. Currently, the BJP has eight MPs and 23 MLAs. He also maintained that the BJP has already won 310 Lok Sabha seats and would cross the 400 mark once the seventh phase of the election is over on June 1.

Addressing a rally at Chandbali in the Bhadrak district, Shah said: “Come June 4, and Naveen Babu will no longer remain the chief minister, he will become the former CM…. BJP is set to win 17 Lok Sabha seats and 75 Assembly constituencies in Odisha.”

Shah’s blistering attack on the Naveen government came at a point when Prime Minister Narendra Modi stepped up the ante on the BJD government, raising the issue of Odia’s pride and how it was under threat. Modi is scheduled to visit Odisha on Wednesday. Modi on Tuesday told a news channel in Delhi, “A Toli (Group) seems to have captured the entire system in Odisha”, and all efforts be initiated to free Odisha from its clutches so that the state will flourish again.

Modi said Odisha, despite being rich in natural resources, remained poor. Stating that the incumbent government is responsible for this, Modi said the people of Odisha should get their rights. “It is a question of Odia Asmita (pride),” he said.

Defining his equation with the Naveen, Modi said: “Here the question was whether I should maintain my relations or worry about the fate of Odisha. I chose to devote myself to a brighter future of Odisha. If I have to sacrifice my relations for that, I will convince everyone that I have no enmity with anyone….”

Like Modi, Shah also raised the “Odia pride” issue on Tuesday. He also targeted Naveen’s closed aide and chief strategist of BJD, V.K. Pandian. “Do you want a chief minister who belongs to Odisha or a Tamil Babu to rule over you? No one will tolerate any such move? Shah said, adding that Prime Minister Modi would give a son of the soil as chief minister of Odisha.”

Coming down heavily on the BJD government, Shah said, “The people of the state tolerated Naveen Babu for the last 25 years. Now, Naveen Babu is trying to impose a Tamil chief minister on you. People cannot tolerate a Tamil Babu who is using his name to remain in power.”

Shah also raised the issue of the missing key of Ratna Bhandar (treasury trove) of Puri Jagannath temple, unemployment and migration,

Targeting the BJP leaders, Pandian said: “The people will not tolerate if the BJP leaders hurl abuses on chief minister Naveen Patnaik. They will teach them a lesson.”

Pandian also exuded confidence that the BJD would form the government. “I will not go into the numbers. We are winning 80 to 85 per cent in the state and have already secured a majority by third phase elections.”