Bhubaneswar: People of Odisha are our bosses and we will continue to fight for their development, said Biju Janata Dal supremo Naveen Patnaik here today.
Addressing the first Executive Body meeting of the newly constituted Biju Yuva Janata Dal ahead of the BJD’s Foundation Day, Naveen said, as a regional party, the BJD will always continue its fight for the interest of the State.
The BJD is the only regional party that can protect the unique identity of the State, Naveen said while urging the members of the Biju Yuva Janata Dal to work for development of the people.
Speaking about the uniqueness of Odisha, Naveen said, “It was the first linguistic state to be formed in the country! It’s language Odia is unique and the language has given us the State”.
The art culture and heritage of Odisha is unparalleled. Our Odissi is exquisite. Jagannath Maha Prabhu is our bedrock . His worship and faith is our essence and not only a form of religion. Mahanadi is our life line ,and we are blessed with plentiful water, Naveen said.
He said, “Our mineral wealth is bountiful and unmatched. The diversity and richness of tribal culture is our strength .Odisha has a unique distinct -IDENTITY. It is for this identity our forefathers sacrificed themselves and fought for a separate state”.
The BJD President accused the Centre of showing step-motherly attitude towards Odisha.
He said both the BJP and Congress promised the people of the State to accord Special Category Status to Odisha in their poll manifestos, but forget their promises after the elections.
“They have to basically impress the national leadership so that they can get crucial posts or become ministers”.
History has shown us that National Parties always have a mainstreaming agenda.
It is only through mainstreaming that they can get maximise votes and wish to form a Govt at centre.
For this their strategy revolves around uniform language -Hindi ,uniform culture , uniform policies which will appeal to the large populous states and then impose the same across the country ignoring the unique identity of certain populations, he said.
National parties are bound to compromise on the distinctive requirements of a state for gains in the larger national context , he added.