Bhubaneswar, November 28: While the entire State is abuzz with the Men’s Hockey World Cup, Opposition parties have alleged that the ruling-BJD is leaving no stone unturned to promote ‘brand Naveen’ in the garb of the mega sporting event.
While majority of the people irrespective of party lines express their gratitude to the Chief Minister for successfully organizing such a rare global event, Few opposition parties alleged that the ongoing men’s Hockey World Cup in Odisha has become a promotional event for the BJD leaders and they are just engaged in promoting the image of their party president and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
They feel utterly disappointed at the popularity and effective management of the international event in the capital city of Odisha which no other political leaders had ever conceived.
Many believe that rampant percentage commission (PC) practice in government works in the State and the hooliganism by the Biju Yuva Vahini have tarnished the image of the CM; and so, the BJD sees the mega event as a good opportunity to makeover and restore the clean image of Naveen.
Since the grand global event went on smoothly , critics of BJD and the Chief Minister are making false and fabricated allegations against the CM.
“The BJD has made the championship a party affair and is indulged in political campaigning through the event. It’s unfortunate,” said Union Minister Jual Oram.
Such comment by the Union Minster Jual Oram has greatly tarnished his image as instead of being proud for the State for successfully organizing such a grand event peacefully , Mr Oram’s comments has exposed him and his party leaders to a great extent.
The common people feel that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would never appreciate such “mean” attitude of the BJP leaders of Odisha.
Similarly, senior Congress leader Sura Routray said “What type of game is going on… only propaganda. It’s all just a waste of money. As elections are on the cards, the BJD is trying to take political mileage and this is not a new thing.”
Negative comments of Congress leader Sura Routray has been accepted with a pinch of salt by the people of the State who have been virtually charmed by the “grand” event.
However, BJD spokesperson, Pratap Deb said that the Opposition parties’ comments over the event have exposed their intolerance.
“They (Congress and BJP) would have never thought that Odisha government could organize such a mega event. Their comments reflect their jealousy and intolerance,” Deb said.
Brahma Mishra, organiser of rural hockey tournaments, said: “We couldn’t see any of Odisha players, who have generated the wave of interest for the game in the State. We didn’t even find a single picture of Dilip Tirkey, Ignesh Tirkey or Rajesh Barla. It has disappointed all the hockey lovers here.”
Comments of Brahma Mishra has also been rejected by the general public and many sports persons of the state who ask if there was any scope to display pictures of Odiha’s hockey legends during the event . They also don’t accept the comments of politically biased Senior Journalists , whose only mission is to blame the most popular and pro-people Chief Minister and take benefit from few opposition leaders of the Union Government.
Prasanta Patnaik