Countering the Chhatra Congress’ attack on Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik over his lack of Odia knowledge, the Biju Yuva Janata Dal has asserted that the CM knows the language well.
“The Chief Minister can talk in Odia. He understands the heart of Odisha people and remains to be a popular leader of the State,” said BYJD State general secretary Bijay Nayak in a statement on Sunday.
Nayak gave this reaction after the National Students' Union of India (NSUI) tried to enter Naveen Niwas to ‘teach’ the language to the Chief Minister.
“People will not accept the opposition party’s drama. The Congress seems not to have learnt anything from its loss. They have been cornering the Government on trivial issues. The Naveen Government has continued its effort for development of the language and the State,” Nayak added. During the past 80 years since the State was formed, many Governments have ruled the State. But the pace of language development taken by this Government is more than that of any other previous Government, he claimed.
He said setting up of Odia language Institution and Odia Virtual Akademi, revival of Bhagbat Tungi and more allocation to the Odisha Sahitya Akademi are examples of the Naveen Government’s keenness towards development of the language.