Odisha braces for ‘Super Sunday’ clash between JP Nadda and Rahul Gandhi

Bhubaneswar: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president JP Nadda and senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will on Sunday hit the campaign trail in Odisha, to add further impetus to their respective party workers and cadres.

According to state BJP spokesperson Golak Nayak, Nadda will arrive in the state in the evening and address a public rally at Ambapua near Berhampur town in Ganjam district. Besides, he will have an “exhaustive interaction” with the party’s workers hailing from three Lok Sabha constituencies – Berhampur, Koraput and Nabarangpur, all South Odisha.

“The BJP is fast catching up with the voters in Odisha by spreading the message of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to build a Vikshit Bharat by 2047. And, there is tremendous enthusiasm among the voters to be a part of our party’s mission to bring our own government in Odisha. JP Nadda ji will guide us on how to accomplish our goal,” said Nayak.

The BJP has fielded Pradip Panigrahi for Berhampur Lok Sabha seat. For the Koraput and Nabarangpur seats, it has landed Kaliram Majhi and Balabhadra Majhi respectively.

Rahul Gandhi, on the other hand, will kick-start his campaign in Odisha from Salipur in coastal Cuttack district. Before addressing the public rally, the Congress leader will visit the birthplace of Madhusudan Das, a legal luminary who played a crucial role in the formation of Odisha as a separate state, and pay homage to him.

“We are eagerly waiting for our leader Rahul Gandhi’s arrival. He knows Odisha quite well. All of us know that he has special affinity with the tribals of our state. His speech at the Salipur public rally will surely instill spirits and enthusiasm in our workers and leaders, as well,” senior Congress leader Biswa Mohan Mohanty said.

The Congress, which ruled the state for over four decades, is seriously struggling to put up a good show in electoral exercises. It has got only nine members in the 147-member Odisha Legislative Assembly. Of the 21 Lok Sabha seats in the state, it won only one in 2019.

Sriram Dash, a senior political analyst, said, “Odisha will witness a Super Sunday clash tomorrow. While the BJP has made its stand clear to take on the BJD, it will be interesting how Rahul Gandhi articulates his party’s mission, especially with regard to Odisha.”