Offering a strong rebuttal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s assertion that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would form next government in Odisha and hold an oath taking ceremony on June 10, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said the saffron party was “daydreaming”. While addressing a public meeting in Behrampur on Monday morning, Mr. Modi said June 4 will be the expiry date for the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government, the BJP will decide its new Chief Minister on June 6 and the swearing-in ceremony of the new BJP government will take place on June 10. The veteran BJP leader said he had come to invite people in advance for swearing-in ceremony.

Shortly after the speech, Mr. Patnaik, who was travelling along with his close aide V.K. Pandian, posted a video message saying the BJP had been daydreaming for too long.

In an apparent attempt to boost the morale of party workers, PM Modi had launched a scathing attack against the Naveen Patnaik government saying the 25-year-old regime is going to change soon. “The one who respects the soil of Odisha and its culture, knows the problems and has solutions, and is connected with the people would become the BJP’s CM,” he said.

Mr. Modi also blamed the Congress and the BJD leaders’ corruption for prevailing poverty in the State which has abundant water and mineral resources, in addition to fertile land and a long coastline.

Not to be left behind in the game of political one-upmanship, Mr. Pandian said, “With the blessing of the people, Mr. Patnaik will once again become Chief Minister and will take oath on June 9.” He went on to assert that the swearing-in ceremony will be held between 11.30 a.m. and 1 p.m. on that day.

Mr. Patnaik on Monday addressed public meetings in Kalahandi Lok Sabha constituency. His speeches were limited to few sentences. He listed popular welfare programmes such as Mamta, Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana, Mission Shakti, Lakshmi Bus, Nua-O scholarship, Kalia, 5T School Transformation, and Shree Mandir Parikrama Project. He also sought the views of the voters to confirm that they were benefited by the schemes.

The Odisha CM was not the only one who disapproved PM’s speech in Odisha. Jairam Ramesh, senior Congress leader, posed some uncomfortable questions as well. “Why has Odisha’s central funding steadily decreased? Will the PM commit to legal status for the SC-ST sub-plan? Will the Sitalapalli wagon factory ever be completed?” Mr. Ramesh asked.

“Odisha has suffered gross neglect at the hands of the Modi sarkar. The BJP has steadily reduced Odisha’s Central funding in recent years. According to CAG reports, Central transfers as percentage of revenue receipts have been consistently decreasing from 57% in 2017-18 to 38% in 2021-22,” Mr. Ramesh said posting his comment on social networking site X.

“The Sitalapalli rail wagon factory in Ganjam district has been in cold storage ever since it was sanctioned by the UPA government in 2013. The NDA government undertook zero work on this project, and then finally dropped it in 2018,” he said.

Mr. Ramesh said there had been no progress two other projects – the Gopalpur-Rayagada Railway Line and the Rairakhol-Gopalpur Railway Line.