The ruling BJD went full throttle attacking the BJP and dubbing it as anti-Odisha at the conclusion of its ‘Mahanadi Surakshya Abhiyan’ here with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik denouncing the silence of the PM which allowed Chhattisgarh government to carry on with illegal barrage construction upstream of the river.

Timed to perfection in the sense that the meeting was held on the eve of PM Narendra Modi’s visit to Cuttack on Saturday, senior BJD leaders like Damodar Rout, Prasanna Acharya, D P Mishra and others trained their guns on the PM while the CM in his speech was , in his inimitable style, subtle in his attack.

The battle to protect Mahanadi is not for water or any political purpose, it is a question of livelihood and the lifeline of people of Odisha, said the CM.

He said the BJD led central government had remained silent and tacitly supported Chhattisgarh in construction of illegal barrages upstream of the river impeding flow of water to Odisha.

BJP leaders of Odisha are supporting Chhattisgarh government and shedding crocodile tears by posing to protect Mahanadi, he chided. Implicitly referring to Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, without naming him, the CM said one such BJP leader is sympathising with Odisha and telling people that he is all for saving Mahanadi and development of the state.

Let him prove himself by asking Chhattisgarh to stop all illegal construction, dared the Chief Minister It was the BJD which fought it out and will continue to do so , he said while noting that when the Modi government did not listen to concerns of people of Odisha, the BJD government moved the Supreme Court and got a direction to the centre to constitute a Tribunal.

The river was drying up slowly due to erection of barrages and dams by Chhattisgarh government, he said. Shortage of water has been affected the eco-system and also the livelihood of farmers and other fishermen community so the people of Odisha have united to fight for justice.

Veteran MLA of the area, Damodar Rout who presided over the meeting has strongly criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi for extending support to the BJP government in Chhattisgarh.

With a flow of water drying up from upstream areas , the shortage of water in the river has posed a great threat to the livelihood of the farmers and fishermen families, 25,000 of whom live in Paradip alone, he said. Ministers Niranjan Pujari, Pratap Jena, MP Prasanna Acharya, DP Mishra, S D Burma and others delivered fiery speeches targeting the BJP.