With Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and his party not figuring in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's scathing speech against the Odisha government, the Congress Tuesday said the "secret ties" between the BJP and the BJD had been exposed. Spokesperson of the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) P K Deb, however, rejected the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee's (OPCC) allegation, saying the party had all along "maintained equidistance from both the BJP and the Congress". Modi, on his visit to Odisha on Monday, addressed a political rally in Khurda where he slammed the state government without mentioning the chief minister or the BJD directly.

OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik launched a scathing attack on Modi and Naveen Patnaik, accusing both of adopting an anti-farmer attitude and trying to fool the people by making false promises ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha election. "Modi's recent visit to Odisha has made it clear that the BJP and the BJD have an anti-farmer stance and they share secret ties," he told reporters here. The prime minister had inaugurated a slew of projects and had released a stamp and a coin to commemorate the Paika Rebellion of 1817 during his day-long visit to the state. "Modiji had taken name of Lord Jagannath several times during his speech which is not acceptable," the OPCC president said adding "using the name of the lord for votes will not yield results".