‘The only thing missing in Odisha is good political leadership:’ Tejasvi Surya

Sambalpur (Odisha) [India], May 19 (ANI): Strongly criticising the Biju Janata Dal government, BJP leader Tejasvi Surya said Odisha is one of the poorest states in the country despite being blessed with natural resources and to realise its full potential "double-engine government" led by the BJP is needed.
The BJP Yuva Morcha national president also criticised the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) for failing to deliver on its promises despite being in power for over two decades in the state.
"Odisha, even today, is one of the poorest states in India. The farmers of Odisha are the poorest farmers in the country. The youth of Odisha are forced to migrate to other states for lack of better opportunities over here," Surya said, calling for a change of government in the state.
"Odisha is a land that is filled with potential, blessed with natural resources, and has plenty of human resources that are capable. The only thing missing is good political leadership," he added.
Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan of the BJP is contesting against BJD's Pranab Prakash Das from Sambalpur. The constituency will vote in the sixth phase of Lok Sabha elections on May 25.
"I am very confident that this time around the youth of Odisha will vote for the BJP both at the centre as well as the state, and once the double-engine government comes into existence, here the flagship programme of the Modi government focused on employment generation, rapid economic prosperity will find a route in Odisha, and the state will finally turn on the path of prosperity and progress," Surya said.
BJP Yuva Morcha national president Tejasvi Surya says, "Odisha is poised for a big political change. The youth of Odisha have been cheated for more than 2 decades by the BJD and its leaders. Despite political stability for the last 20 years, despite being re-elected multiple times, the BJD has betrayed the trust and hopes of the people of Odisha."
Earlier in the day, Surya also held a bike rally in the constituency.
The Assembly and Lok Sabha polls in the BJD-ruled state are being held across four phases - from May 13 to June 1. The counting of votes will be held on June 4.
Polling for the first phase was conducted in 28 Assembly seats and four Lok Sabha constituencies on May 13. In the fifth phase, 35 Assembly seats and five Lok Sabha constituencies will vote on May 20, 42 Assembly segments and six Lok Sabha seats on May 25 and the remaining 42 Assembly seats and six Lok Sabha constituencies in the last phase on June 1. The results will be out on June 4.
In the last assembly elections in 2019, the BJD won 112 out of 146 seats, while the BJP had to settle for just 23 seats and the Congress finished at 9.
In the Lok Sabha elections in the same year, the BJD won 12 seats, the BJP finished a close second at 8, and the Congress bagged just a lone seat. (ANI)