Hope Lord Jagannath gives Modi 'Sad Buddhi', prays Congress

Bhubaneswar: A day after Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi offered pujas at Sri Jagannath Temple in Puri, Congress on Wednesday prayed that the Lord gives “Sad Buddhi” (good sense) to the BJP leader. “I pray that Lord Jagannath give ‘Sad Buddhi’ to Modi so that he will not attempt to divide the country in the name of religion,” said BK Hariprasad, the AICC general secretary in-charge of Odisha. [caption id=“attachment_965281” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Gujarat CM Narendra Modi. AP[/caption] Alleging that Modi had been playing divisive politics which could spell disaster for the country, Hariprasad said BJP’s national election campaign committee chairman should be blessed with good sense to refrain from such kind of politics. He said Modi’s words of bond between Gujarat and Odisha would have no impact on the people as the Odias living in Gujarat, who according to Modi, contributed to the growth of the state, did not have any identity. “Odias in Gujarat are not given ration cards, voting rights or any other rights availed by any Indian citizen. When Modi fails to give rights to Odias in Gujarat, how can he take care of the people of Odisha here,” Hariprasad said. He was addressing a public meeting at Salepur in Cuttack district, marking culmination of the Odisha state unit’s week long FIR campaign against the BJD government. The senior Congress leader criticised Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik over “rampant corruption” in the state. Accusing the Naveen Patnaik government of “diverting 10 kg of rice every month from each BPL family from their 35 kg monthly quota,” the party had been filing FIRs against the Chief Minister and the Food and Civil Supplies minister. “Congress workers with the help of BPL families have filed more than 5,000 FIRs in at least 300 police stations against the BJD government for the diversion,” said party state president Jeydev Jena. He said the party was planning to move court if the police did not register a case against the chief minister form alleged diversion of subsidised rice. PTI