Amidst the intense electioneering, the heavyweights of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will again hit the campaign trail in Odisha.
This was informed by BJP leader Golak Mohapatra at a press meet in Bhubaneswar on Sunday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah and National President of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) JP Nadda will visit Odisha on different days to address public rallies for the next phase of elections.
Mohapatra said that the Prime Minister will visit Odisha on May 20. He will go to Puri where he will hold a roadshow in the morning that day. This will be his second roadshow in the state during the ongoing elections after the one held at Bhubaneswar on May 10. The Prime Minister was all praise for the massive response to the roadshow.
Moreover, the Prime Minister will address two public meetings at Angul and Cuttack.
Mohapatra also informed that Home Minister Amit Shah will also come to Odisha on May 15 and will address public meetings covering three parliamentary constituencies -- Rourkela (Sundargarh), Kantabanji(Bolangir) and Sorada(Aska).
Mohapatra added that Saha’s visit will be followed by BJP’s National President JP Nadda’s visit on May 17. Nadda will address public meetings at Sundargarh, Hinjili and Padampur.
“People in Odisha are deprived of pro-poor welfare schemes of the central government. They want to change the government. Compared to other states of the country, Odisha has lagged behind on various fronts. The Central BJP leadership wants to carry Odisha ahead,” he said.
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Training his gun at Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Mohapatra said,”Here is a Chief Minister who is aptly called as video chief minister as he is available to people through video. Our Prime Minister said: The Chief Minister is unable to say names of villages and districts on his own.”
On the other hand, the frequent visits of BJP's central leaders to Odisha indicate their focus on winning the Assembly election while the Prime Minister in his recent rallies predicted his party's spectacular show in Lok Sabha as well as Assembly polls.
'PM never says anything without calculation'
As for the Prime Minister’s assertions and prediction about the BJD’s debacle in the upcoming polls, President of the Odisha BJP Manmohan Samal said, ”The Prime Minister never utters anything without any calculation. Common people have decided that the BJP government will be established. The PM is quite confident about the common people having changed their minds this time.”
Senior journalist Prasanna Mohanty said, “The PM is confident about the BJP’s chances in Odisha. Unlike previous elections, the BJP feels a strong anti-incumbency wave this time. There is an undercurrent of the Modi wave. There is an undertone for a change. But time will tell how the BJP will encash it.