PM Modi to visit Odisha twice in a gap of 4 days to hold poll rallies, road shows

Bhubaneswar: Keen to wrest power from the Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Odisha, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is making its last ditch effort to see that the party gets an absolute majority in the forthcoming polls for the Odisha Legislative Assembly. The saffron party has lined up almost all the top guns, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah, to add further momentum to the party's ongoing high-decibel campaign.

The party is also eying to win at least 16 of the 21 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

The polls for Lok Sabha and Odisha Legislative Assembly will be held simultaneously in four phases - on May 13, May 20, May 25 and June 1.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Odisha twice in a gap of four days to campaign for the party candidates. He will have two poll rallies in Berhampur and Nabarangpur on May 6 and a road show in Bhubaneswar on May 10. In Berhampur, the BJP has fielded Pradeep Panigrahy, a one-time close aide of Odisha CM and BJD president Naveen Pantaik, who quit the party recently and joined the saffron party. In Nabarangpur, the party has landed former Lok Sabha member Balabhadra Majhi.

According to political observers, the PM’s visits to the state in a short interval of four days shows the BJP’s seriousness to fight the Lok Sabha and Odisha Legislative Assembly elections.

“The BJP has been desperately trying since 2009 to form its government in the state by unseating the 24-year-old BJD government. However, it has not succeeded in its attempt as it lacked orgnisational bases. The party has lined up a battery of its central leaders this time to canvas for the party candidates. It clearly indicates, it wants to leave no stone unturned to capture power in the state,” said Prasanna Mohanty, a political analyst.

Sources said the PM will have at least six election rallies in Odisha by May 30.