Amid rival sloganeering; Shah says PM will develop Odisha with BJD

Cuttack (Odisha): Shortly after BJP and BJD supporters started a war of slogans during a non-political programme here on Monday, Union Home Minister Amit Shah made it clear that the Centre seeks to develop Odisha in cooperation with the state government.

Shah, sharing dais with BJD president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, also said that with a number of people from Odisha heading some top offices of the country, the state has been experiencing Achhe Din (good times).

Besides Shah and Patnaik, Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan who is from the state attended the 75th anniversary of Prajatantra', a leading Odia daily, at an indoor stadium where an equal number of seats were allocated to supporters and leaders of the two parties.

As the programme was about to begin, slogans like Amit Shah Zindabad and Naveen Patnaik Zindabad rent the air in the stadium. There was a poster war between the two parties ahead of Shah's arrival in the state.

The supporters of the two parties stopped shouting slogans only after Pradhan made an appeal to the audience to calm down. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji, we are trying our best to achieve the overall development of Odisha in cooperation with the state government.

He wats that as Team India, both the central and state governments work together for the development, Shah said in his address.

Mentioning that Achhe Din has already come for Odisha, Amit Shah said the Union home minister said that from the President of India to the

RBI governor, Odisha has the maximum number

of representatives at the national level.