Bhubaneswar: BJP national president JP Nadda is likely to visit Odisha during December this year or January, 2021 as part of his 120-day nationwide tour to strengthen the party's organisational machinery with an eye on the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
State BJP General Secretary, Prithviraj Harichandan informed that Nadda will be in the State for three days although the itinerary of his visit is yet to be finalised.
Harichandan said that Nadda will chalk out strategies which will help to strengthen the organisational structure of BJP in Odisha. He will also hold discussions with the party workers about Mission-120 and 'Double Engine' government of BJP at the Centre and the State.
"When Amit Shah was the national president of the party, he had also undertaken extensive nationwide tours during his tenure and assigned us tasks and subsequently reviewed it. Similarly, JP Nadda will also visit Odisha for two to three days to review the pending works related to Mission-120 and chalk out strategies to take it forward," stated Harichandan.
"The party's performance in Odisha has comparatively improved which was seen in the last elections in 2019. However, the organisational machinery of the party needs to be strengthened further so that its aim of Mission-120 and Double Engine government can be achieved. Nadda's visit will boost the party's functioning at organisational level and bear fruitful results," hoped the BJP leader.
However, both Congress and Biju Janata Dal (BJD) were sceptical about Nadda's visit. Ridiculing the "Mission-12", Congress' Tara Prasad Bahinipati said, "Amit Shah said the same thing before the last election. Forget about 120 (+) seats, they were limited to 20 (+) seats in the state. Only time will tell who wins the race in Odisha."
Similarly, BJD's Amar Prasad Satapathy said, "BJD is stronger than ever with the leadership of CM Naveen Patnaik. The voters are with us because of the popular works we have done in the past. Mission-120 is BJP's problem, we do not want to comment on that."
Nadda is likely to begin his nationwide tour in the first week of December and Uttarakhand will be the first state on his itinerary, BJP general secretary Arun Singh had told media persons on Sunday.
The BJP president will visit every state, hold virtual meetings with heads of all booth units, the smallest organisational entity in the party, and meet every MP and MLA of the organisation besides its senior leaders, including district chiefs, in each state during his tour.
He will also strategise with party leaders for strengthening the organisation in Lok Sabha seats and regions where the BJP did not win in the 2019 polls. He will also meet the party's allies and hold public programmes and press conferences as well, said Singh.
It is pertinent to mention here that, BJP had lost to BJD in the recently concluded Bypolls at Tirtol and Balasore Sadar assembly seats, reducing the total number of BJP MLA's to 22 from 23 in Odisha Assembly.