Naveen Patnaik.
Credit: PTI Photo
Bhubaneswar: Former Odisha chief minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday said he will commence district tours after the ongoing monsoon season and asserted that his party can come to power again if its workers fight together.
Addressing the party leaders from Angul district, he asked them to reach out to people and highlight the "failures" of the current BJP dispensation in the state.
During the meeting, he also reviewed the BJD's activities in the district.
Patnaik’s statement on the possibility of his party returning to power holds significance as the BJD will launch its annual outreach programme - Jana Sampark Padayatra - on Wednesday.
“We can form a government again if you fight together against the BJP," he told party workers.
The BJD was in power for 24 years at a stretch from 2000 to 2024 before it was defeated in the last elections.
The party could secure only 51 seats as against the BJP’s 78 in the 147-member assembly.
The BJD, however, garnered 40.77 per cent of votes, more than the ruling BJP's 40.07 per cent in the recently concluded assembly elections, The Congress won 14 seats, the CPI(M) one and three independent candidates emerged victorious.
While suggesting the party leaders to strengthen ties with the people and actively participate in the outreach programme and the BJD’s membership drive, which commences on October 9 for two months, Patnaik said the public should be made aware of the state and the central governments' "failures to check the price rise of essential commodities".
The BJD president claimed that the people of Odisha "love" the regional party for its dedicated service for decades.
“You (leaders) just work for the people and inform them about the good initiatives taken by the previous BJD government,” Patnaik told party workers.
He also asked them to tell people that it was the BJD government which could drastically reduce poverty in Odisha from 70 per cent in 2000 to 10 per cent in 2024.