Saffron Party's Odisha MPs, MLAs Plan to Meet Modi, Amit Shah on December 19

Bhubaneswar: Buoyed by the stunning victories of the party’s victory in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, the upbeat Odisha state BJP unit now seems to be upping its ante against the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD).

The party has decided to   mobilise all its resources to ensure that it takes a sweet revenge on the Naveen Patnaik-led regional party in the hands of which it has suffered three crushing defeats in 2009, 2014 and 2019.

On Sunday, the party announced that all its 22 MLAs, 8 MPs will visit New Delhi on December 19 to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi, home minister Amit Shah, party national president JP Nadda and other senior leaders to apprise them about the current state of affairs in the state.

The visit is seen as the saffron party’s preparation for the 2024 general elections.

Odisha state BJP unit president Manmohan Samal will lead the delegation of lawmakers.

According to senior BJP leader Pradipta Naik, the meeting with party leaders in New Delhi will feature several key issues, including its strategy towards the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD).

“We as a group have not met the Prime Minister and the home minister after winning the last elections. So, we will have a meeting. We also have several issues to discuss like the state government hijacking the central government’s yojanas and programmes,” said Naik.

It is also expected that the meeting may brainstorm on strategies to be followed for the approaching elections.

Terming the BJP leaders’ visit as a drama, senior Congress leader Suresh Routray wryly said the BJP leaders are going to Delhi to bring funds to fight against the BJD.

“They (BJP and BJD) have already decided that they will fight the election united. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah have already made plans to ensure BJD’s victory in Odisha. And as per the plans, VK Pandian has resigned from his service. His resignation was accepted by the Union government in just two days while the allegation against him about misusing his earlier position in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) was never investigated,” he added.

On the BJP’s charge, BJD MLA Amar Satpathy said, “In the run-up to the election, such activities are common. There is nothing new. Their allegation that the state government is hijacking the central schemes is baseless. Even the union government is appreciating the state government for the proper implementation of the central schemes."