Bhubaneswar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi seems to be fighting a decisive battle this time against Odisha chief minister president Naveen Patnaik. He has decided to take the battle right into the enemy camp by challenging the CM in his home turfs – Hinjili and Kantabanji — the two seats where the latter is fighting assembly elections.
Home Minister Amit Shah will address a public meeting at Hinjili on May 15 and the party’s national president JP Nadda will hold a grand poll rally at Kantabanji on May 17.
The PM, who has so far addressed five public rallies and held a roadshow in Odisha’s capital city Bhubaneswar, is again coming to the state on May 20 to hold more public meetings and a roadshow at Puri where party’s national spokesperson Dr Sambit Patra is fighting Lok Sabha elections.
According to senior BJP leader Golak Mohapatra, the PM will hold the roadshow in Puri on May 20 morning and later address public meetings at Angul and Cuttack.
The PM has already covered six of the 21 Lok Sabha constituencies in Odisha. His acerbic attack on the Odisha CM’s inability to speak without referring to written papers and over-reliance on non-Odia officials to run the state administration and party has led the ruling BJD leaders red-faced.
Backing PM Modi’s efforts to win Odisha Legislative Assembly elections and get a good number of Lok Sabha seats from the state, the party’s national president JP Nadda, and home minister Amit Shah are also holding frequent public meetings in the state. They have already addressed a couple of meetings and both of them are again coming to the state on May 15 and 17.
On May 15, Shah is scheduled to address public meetings at Rourkela, Hinjili, and Sorada, respectively under Sundergarh, Bolangir, and Aska Lok Sabha constituencies.
On May 17, JP Nadda will hold poll rallies in Kantabanji and Padampur assembly constituencies.
Besides Modi, Shah, and Nadda, — Assam Chief Minister Himant Biswa Sarma and UP CM Yogi Adityanath will participate in the party’s campaign.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already announced that the 24 years of Naveen Patnaik’s rule in Odisha will end on June 4 when the results of the elections will be announced and the BJP will announce the name of its new chief minister on June 6. The CM-designate will take oath of office on June 10.
The BJD has pooh-poohed the PM’s assertion saying, “The BJP is day-dreaming.”
CM Naveen Patnaik has even gone on record saying the BJP cannot come to power in Odisha in the next 10 years.
