Dismal performance in panchayat polls does not mean people want change: Naveen

Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday rejected the claim of opposition that the dismal performance of ruling BJD in panchayat polls is meant for a change in Odisha politics.

Patnaik, however, told the party MLAs not to be disheartened following the poll results.

“One should not be disheartened by the reverses. Our party has returned as number one party in the state and the opposition is far behind. So the underlying message is that people don’t want change, they want to perform even better in the areas where you have not met the expectations of the people and the grassroot level workers,” said Patnaik  during the legislative party meeting in the state Assembly.

Not happy with the unofficial results of the three-tier Panchayat polls which concluded in Odisha on Tuesday, the BJD supremo expressed his resentment over the performance of his party.

“I am not happy with certain Hon’ble MLAs who could not do well in the elections. There may be certain specific reasons for their failure which needs to be seriously introspected,” said Patnaik.

“I am seriously concerned at the poor performance of the party in certain districts in the recently concluded Panchayat elections. There may be certain specific reasons for this failure which needs serious introspection,” said the BJD president.

He said the party leaders should take the signal as wake up call and get reconnected to the people and workers at the grassroots level.