Election 2024: Why a 16th-century Odia tale is being cited to target Naveen Patnaik’s lieutenant
‘Kanchi Kaveri’ has been deployed against VK Pandian to suggest that he will carry back to Tamil Nadu the wealth that had been won by a medieval Odia ruler.
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With Odia Asmita or self-respect emerging as the central theme for the state assembly elections underway in Odisha along with the Lok Sabha contest, the polls could be seen as a referendum on the political legitimacy of Biju Janata Dal leader VK Pandian.
Pandian, who has served as a key aide to Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for more than a decade, is seen as the frontrunner among his potential political heirs. The Bharatiya Janata Party has questioned how someone native to Tamil Nadu can be allowed to rule over Odisha without a democratic mandate. This criticism has support from a significant section of educated, urban, middle-class Odias.
A national-level controversy has already erupted over BJP’s focus on Pandian’s Tamil identity. Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has expressed his displeasure over Narendra Modi’s campaign remarks in Odisha, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of characterising Tamils as “thieves” in front of the Odia people.
“Can the prime minister term the people of Tamil Nadu as thieves who have stolen the keys of the treasury of Lord Jagannath temple?” Stalin is reported to have said.
Stalin has cited an excerpt from a speech Modi made in Cuttack on Monday, in which he said, “Whatever is happening in relation to Jagannathji’s Ratna...
