Bhubaneswar: BJD president Naveen Patnaik on Friday termed the BJP government in Odisha “incompetent” and alleged that the ruling party’s “double-engine” dispensation had tarnished the state’s image through a series of failures.
Addressing a public meeting in the North Bhubaneswar Assembly constituency as part of the BJD’s annual ‘Jan Sampark Pada Yatra’, Patnaik urged party workers to take the message of the government’s alleged failures to every household and create public awareness about the issues.
The mass outreach programme began on October 2, coinciding with Gandhi Jayanti.
Claiming that Odisha had emerged as a model state for rapid development during the BJD’s tenure from 2000 to 2024, the former chief minister expressed concern over what he described as the BJP government’s failure to sustain the state’s development momentum.
The “incompetent double-engine government” had tarnished Odisha’s image in just two-and-a-half years, he alleged.
“I urge you all to take this message of the ‘double-engine’ government’s failures to every household and raise public awareness about the issues,” Patnaik said.
Paying tribute to Utkalmani Pandit Gopabandhu Das on his 149th birth anniversary, the BJD president said his party believed in service and development.
Earlier, on October 2, Patnaik had accused the BJP government of protecting the interests of mine owners instead of fighting for the rights of the people while launching the party’s mass outreach programme.
He had also opposed the Mines and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Amendment Act, 2026, claiming that the legislation deprived Odisha of its rights over mineral-bearing land.
The BJD has alleged that the legislation would deprive the state of Rs 1 lakh crore in revenue from levies on mine owners. The party has demanded the repeal of the Act and organised a massive rally in Bhubaneswar during the monsoon session of the state Assembly.
Patnaik has participated in the padyatra twice so far, while other BJD leaders have been marching across the state to highlight what they describe as the failures of the government led by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi.
Apart from the mining legislation, the opposition party has raised concerns over alleged large-scale errors in school textbooks, the deletion of more than 27 lakh eligible voters from electoral rolls during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), and law-and-order issues.
Senior BJD vice-president Debi Prasad Mishra said party leaders were highlighting these issues as part of their statewide campaign against the BJP government.
