Bhubaneswar December 12 :
BJP national general secretary and in-charge of Odisha, D Purandeswari, on Friday asked the state leaders to expose the “misdeeds” of the BJD government instead of attacking individual functionaries in the administration. Purandeswari, who is on her maiden visit to the state after taking charge of Odisha, also asked the BJP state unit to strengthen the party organisation at the grass-root level.
The senior BJP leader met presidents of all 36 organisational districts of the party in the state, all MLAs and defeated party candidates in previous assembly elections and MPs along with those who lost the Lok Sabha polls in separate meetings.
Purandeswari “suggested that we should expose the wrongdoings of the BJD government as a whole, instead of criticising the individual leaders in the government”, a senior leader who attended the meetings told PTI.
This appears to be a change of stance for the opposition party which generally attacks ministers, including Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, and certain officers of the government. Notably, Patnaik who is also the BJD president, never criticises individual opposition leaders and this is his strategy for many years. Purandeswari also stressed on the need for strengthening the party’s booth committees across the state, state BJP general secretary Prithiwiraj Harichandan said.
“Ensure that the prime minister’s welfare programmes reach every individual in the state and party leaders should stand by the people of the state through thick and thin,” a party statement quoted her as saying at the meetings.
Though the BJP suffered losses in the recently held by-elections to Balasore and Tirtol assembly segments, she encouraged the leaders to work with commitment to ensure victory of party candidates in the urban local body and panchayat polls which would be held prior to the assembly polls in 2024.