A day after snapping ties with the Bharatiya Janata Party at the state level, the Biju Janata Dal on Monday sent mixed signals on its strategy for the Lok Sabha polls, saying it is 'still part of the National Democratic Alliance'. "The BJD is misleading all by saying it is part of the NDA. How can a party be a member of the NDA while forging pre-poll alliance with the Left parties and the Nationalist Congress Party," asked BJP's youth wing leader Dharmendra Pradhan.
A Dalit girl, who was set ablaze after an attempted rape, died after struggling for survival for twelve days at a hospital in Bhubaneswar, triggering public protests and demands for the resignation of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
"The nine deaths were reported in the neonatal care centre of hospital since last morning. All of them were kept in incubators as they were premature babies," Superintendent of the hospital, Dr Laxmikant Dash said.
Patnaik's image of a "clean and honest" politician is widely regarded as the reason why he was able to withstand a spirited challenge thrown by the Bharatiya Janata Party, analysts say of perhaps the lone regional satrap who cannot even properly speak the language of his native state.
A 14-year-old girl, battling for her life after she was set afire by three people in Odisha's Kendrapara two weeks ago, passed away in a hospital in Bhubaneswar late on Thursday night, TV channels reported.
Naveen Patnaik, who steered the Biju Janata Dal to a landslide victory in the Odisha assembly elections, was on Wednesday sworn in as chief minister for a fourth consecutive term.
As the Odisha CM prepares to face the BJP onslaught, the BJP hopes to rope in some BJD heavyweights.
With cyclone Phailin expected to make landfall in Odisha on Saturday, the state government mounted a massive operation to evacuate two lakh people from six coastal districts on Friday night
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