Naveen Patnaik greets Modi for BJP's victory in three states

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the BJP's victory in three states in the recent assembly elections.

Patnaik, who is also the president of the ruling Biju Janata Dal in Odisha, spoke to the PM over the phone and conveyed his greetings to Modi, an official release issued by the CMO said.

The BJP has won recently held assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, the results of which were announced on Sunday.

However, the BJD also asserted that the results will have no impact on Odisha politics or the electoral prospects of the ruling party in the eastern state.

"No state has a leader of the stature of Naveen Patnaik. The recent state assembly elections will have no impact on Odisha, according to my assessment," BJD MP Amar Patnaik said in a statement.

The BJP is the main opposition party in Odisha.

In a press conference, BJP Odisha unit president Manmohan Samal claimed that the saffron party will form the government in Odisha next year.

Odisha assembly elections are due along with Lok Sabha polls early next year.

Samal claimed that Modi has immense popularity in Odisha and that will reflect on the polls. He alleged that the state government was knee-deep in corruption.

"The Modi government has sanctioned nearly Rs 19 lakh crores for Odisha in the last nine years but the funds were not utilised properly. Many youths have migrated to other states for work," he said.

Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Sarat Pattnayak, on the other hand, claimed the grand old party will oust the BJD from power.

"The Congress defeated a regional party in Telangana and this will be repeated in Odisha," Pattnayak said, adding people have now realised the BJD and the BJP were two sides of a coin.