News from Bhubaneswar

BJP will win all the 21 Lok Sabha seats and there will be a double-engine government in Odisha, Nayak said adding that the BJD was playing and the party was keen for a coalition with the BJP.

BJP on Wednesday claimed that the party will form double-engine government in Odisha.

Odisha Congress arguably seems to be in a quandary over candidate selection for the Jatani Assembly seat as veteran leader and sitting MLA Suresh Routray and his nephew Sangram Routray are locked in a war of words. 

The Congress so far has been able to declare candidates for 49 Assembly seats out of 147 and 8 Lok Sabha seats out of a total 21 seats in Odisha.

The BJP alleged that the government has sanctioned over Rs 500 crore of the tribal welfare development department to an NGO despite the model code of conduct being in force. The party leaders met the CEO and furnished pictorial evidence of the ASHAs and Anganwadi workers engaged in partisan activities. 

Protesting against the party nominating Smrutirekha Pahi for Dharmasala Assembly seat, supporters of BJP leader Himanshu Sekhar Sahu demanded the ticket for him.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Tuesday predicted that North-westerly winds are prevailing over the state at the lower level. Moreover, there will be a gradual rise in the maximum temperature (Day Temperature) in Odisha.

Veteran Congress leader and Jatani MLA Suresh Routray denied allegations of him campaigning for his son who is a BJD candidate for Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha seat.

Singers, music directors, lyricists, composers, technicians and musical hands have their plates full and it means good earnings. Singer Shiba Shankar Sarangi said, "I have already rendered my voice for four songs. In the previous election time, I had sung over 200 songs.”

For the last few days, many ticket aspirants have been camping in Bhubaneswar because they fear the mathematics may go against them in their absence.  

It is said that the BJD is haunted by fears of losing ground in the Lok Sabha elections amid reports of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s popularity in Odisha.    

The forest department has started chalking out plans to arrest kingpin of the racket involved in smuggling of wild animals' body parts.

A shopkeeper was allegedly attacked by some youths near Jagannath temple at Baramunda under Khandagiri Police limits after he reportedly denied them credit. The whole incident was captured on CCTV cameras and the footage has been accessed by OTV.

Senior BJP leader Samir Mohanty told the media, "The model code of conduct is in force and the ECI barred the IPS from taking part in any election duty. However, it has been seen that Kutey is calling SPs, IICs and political leaders. He has been working on partisan lines. This is a violation of the poll MCC.”

Dhauli police recovered the body from the Daya River bed, sent it to Capital Hospital for post-mortem and launched a probe.