Bhubaneswar, Apr 13: The State unit of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday slammed Odisha's ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) for trying to rope in Odia film starts to campaign for the regional party in the upcoming Lok Sabha and assembly elections in the state.

After several Odia film personalities-turned politicians snapped their ties with the BJD over one issue or the other, BJD president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik held a meeting with other cine stars on Friday and reportedly urged them to campaign for it.

Addressing a press meet in Bhubaneswar, BJP leader and actress Pinky Pradhan alleged that the BJD appeared to have been rattled after celebrities such as Anubhav Mohanty, Sidhant Mohapatra and Arindam Roy quit the party and joined the saffron camp.

“As the ruling party is afraid of defeat in the upcoming elections, it invited a host of actors, comedians and singers of the Odia film industry to meet the Chief Minister,” she claimed.

With no star campaigners left in the party, the BJD is trying to rope in the young actors to pull crowds during its poll campaigns, Pradhan said.

She alleged that the BJD government has done nothing for the welfare of the artists and Odia film industry during its 24 years of rule.

Pradhan accused the BJD of adopting a “use and throw” policy towards artists. She also charged the Chief Minister with trying to divide the artists based on party politics.

“If he Chief Minister has real sympathy for the artists, he should take steps for the development of Odia movie industry,” she said.

A group of Odia cinema celebrities including superstar Babusan Mohanty, Amlan Das, Sailendra, Ashiwini Tripathy, Pragyan, Bhumika, Supriya and others held a discussion with Patnaik and his close aide VK Pandian on Friday.