Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Wednesday slammed Union Home Minister Amit Shahโs โadvanced ageโ remark against Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, saying that Shah was actually โthrowing a hint to Prime Minister Narendra Modiโ. Chidambaram also asserted Amit Shah was willing to take the Prime Ministerโs chair himself.
In an X post, the senior Congress leader said, โWhen Mr Amit Shah said that Mr Naveen Patnaik should retire because of โadvanced ageโ (77 years), was he throwing a hint to Mr Narendra Modi (73 years, 7 months) โ in case the BJP formed the government?โ โIt seems that Mr Amit Shah will be the happiest person if the BJP did not form the government and he, not Mr Modi, will sit as the Leader of the Opposition!โ (sic), he added.
According to reports, Chidambaramโs post came after Shahโs Tuesday statement, where he said Naveen Patnaik, who is 77 years old, should retire due to his โadvanced age and health issuesโ, and promised that the BJP will make a young Odia-speaking โbhumiputraโ the Chief Minister if the party is voted to power in the state. Amit Shah said, โNaveen Babu is not keeping well, as a result of which 1.5 lakh government vacancies are not being filled up. If we form the government, we will make appointments to these posts.โ
Shah confidently said that the BJP-led NDA has already bagged 310 seats after the conclusion of five phases of Lok Sabha polls and will secure its 400 target in the next two phases.
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Shah also hit out at bureaucrat-turned-politician VK Pandian, a close aide of Patnaik. Without taking his name, Shah said, โTamil babuโ is ruling the roost in Odisha, and people will vote for the BJP to free the state from โbabu rajโ.Amit Shah was addressing back-to-back election rallies in Odisha ahead of the third phase of simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly polls in Odisha on May 25. Amit Shah said the ongoing polls are to make Narendra Modi the prime minister for the third term and restore Odishaโs glory, which has been โdestroyedโ by the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD government.
Union minister Amit Shah said, โWith the conclusion of five phases of polling, NDA has already won 310 seats. We will achieve our 400-plus seats target after the sixth and seventh phases,โ
He further said, โNaveen Babu has made a Tamil officer ruler of the state. Oust the BJD governmentโฆ we will give a young Odia-speaking chief ministerโฆ babus (officers) have looted the state of its minerals. I promise you these babus would be jailed after the BJP forms the government in Odisha,โ Shah said.โIf BJP is voted to power in Odisha, a โbhumiputraโ (son or daughter of the soil) will rule the land of โUtkala Bhumiโ and not a Tamil babu,โ.
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