Bhubaneswar, 10 November (H.S.): Former Union Education Minister and Sambalpur MP Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday accused the Congress and the INDIA bloc of staging a “false drama” over alleged vote theft to conceal their repeated electoral defeats and political frustration.

Addressing a public meeting after participating in the ‘Save Democracy, Remove Anarchy’ march organised by the Sambalpur district BJP, Pradhan called for a mass movement to protect democracy and oppose what he described as anarchy in the country and Odisha.

Pradhan said the march was not merely a party programme but a larger campaign to safeguard Odisha’s self-respect and identity, as well as democratic values across the country. He alleged that opposition parties, having lost public support, were unable to accept India’s rapid economic growth and development under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership.

“Congress and the INDIA bloc are creating a controversy over vote theft to hide their repeated electoral defeats and political bankruptcy,” he said. He accused opposition leaders of questioning the credibility of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and the Election Commission after losing elections, while accepting them when they emerge victorious.

Criticising the opposition’s objections to the revision of electoral rolls, Pradhan questioned whether the Congress wanted to win elections by relying on the votes of deceased persons, people who had changed their addresses and illegal infiltrators. He alleged that the opposition was attempting to protect people without valid citizenship instead of placing its trust in the country’s 1.4 billion citizens.

Pradhan said India’s democratic system had enabled a woman from a poor tribal family in Odisha to become the President of the country and a person from a humble background to become Prime Minister. He alleged that the Nehru-Gandhi family, which he described as feudal, was unable to accept this democratic empowerment and was promoting narratives of anarchy and regime change.

He said the march had received widespread public support and called upon party workers to take its message to every village and household in Odisha, invoking the blessings of Maa Samaleswari and Lord Jagannath.

“Modi is not going anywhere, and the country's development journey will continue uninterrupted,” Pradhan said, urging people to unite to eliminate all forms of anarchy from Odisha and work towards building a strong state.

Odisha Panchayati Raj, Rural Development and Drinking Water Minister Rabi Narayan Naik, Sambalpur MLA Jayanarayan Mishra and district BJP president Ramchandra Meher were among those who participated in the march.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Monalisa Panda