Odia ‘ashmita’ or pride apparently stays at the top of poll plank for the Opposition BJP and Congress as both the parties have embarked on campaign trail to put brakes on the successive electoral victory march of anti-incumbency-hit BJD in Odisha, which is going to simultaneous Assembly and Lok Sabha polls in four phases starting May 13.

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will launch his campaign in Odisha on Sunday at Salepur in Kendrapara Parliamentary constituency after paying tributes to Utkal Gaurav Madhusudan Das in what evidently is an attempt to rake up the ‘Odia Pride’ sentiment.

Playing the ‘Odia Pride’ card to the hilt, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had earlier appealed to the Odisha voters to ‘uproot’ the corrupt BJD government saying that the government is being run by people who don’t understand the language, literature and culture of the State.

Addressing his maiden election rally at Sonepur on Thursday, Shah said those who can’t take pride in the language and culture of the state, cannot take Odisha forward.

Like the BJP, Congress has raked up the Odia pride plank on innumerable occasions to train guns at the BJD and revive the grand old party’s electoral fortune, which is in steady downslide since 2000.

AICC Odisha in-charge Ajoy Kumar besides senior leaders of State unit is also equally vocal in firing salvo at BJD, raising Odia pride plank.

The Naveen Patnaik-led BJD has been firmly ensconced in the State since 2000. In both the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls, the regional party has largely emerged as the undisputed and unchallenged political force in the coastal State. The BJP, the former ally of the BJD, has emerged as the principal Opposition in the state since 2019 polls, relegating Congress to No.-3 spot in Odisha politics.

Both the Opposition parties have trained their guns at V K Pandian, close-aide of Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, alleging that Patnaik Government has been outsourced to outsiders by a Tamil Nadu-born former bureaucrat.

BJP recently released a catalogue elucidating elaborate details of Naveen Patnaik government’s misrule and misdeed.

The entire administration and system of governance has been manipulated to promote the agenda of a non-Odia individual. The non-Odia contractors and companies are executing the project works at the behest of Patnaik’s trusted aide Pandian. It has severely hurt the Odia pride, BJP leaders said in recent election rallies.

The Odisha government implemented a school transformation project pumping Rs 3400 crore from the State exchequer. It was a sell-devised plot to sabotage the career prospects of Odia students, BJP alleged in the recently-released catalogue of Patnaik Government’s misrule.

With no understanding of Odia traditions, the non-Odia BJD leader (Pandian) runs proxy administration, which is an affront to the 4.5 crore Odias, BJP catalogue charged.

The BJD top leadership however, refutes the charges asserting that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is firmly etched in the hearts of 4.5 crore Odia people.

Because of Patnaik’s good governance and love for Odia people, he is the tallest leader in the State. The party will silence all on 4 June when the election results will come out. The BJD will carry forward its uninterrupted victory stride in the Assembly and Lok Sabha polls as it has been doing since the last 24 years, senior BJD leaders maintained rebutting the Odia pride issue.