Rourkela: Union Minister Amit Shah is scheduled to address a Vijay Sankalp Yatra in Rourkela on Friday, as part of the BJP campaign blitzkrieg in Odisha ahead of the second-round elections.
According to sources, Shah will arrive here around 3.30 pm and hold the public meeting in a field near the Rourkela airport. This is his second visit to the state within a span of two days.
This comes a day after BJP national president attend a public meeting in Sundargarh town and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma campaigned at Bonai in the district.
With a focus on Sundargarh parliamentary constituency, which along with Bargarh, Balangir, Kandhamal and Aska, is going to polls on May 20, the saffron party has lined up some biggies to campaign in the district. Rourkela too falls under Sundargarh LS seat.
Chhattisgarh CM Vishnu Deo Sai will address a public meeting at Biramitrapur around 11 am and later in Sundargarh, and Rajgangpur. BJP MP candidate from Amravati, Navneet Kaur Rana, will also campaign for the party at Jarda block in the district.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw is also scheduled to attend two public meetings in Sundargarh, including one at Bonia, on May 18, the party sources said.
Sundargarh Lok Sabha constituency is poised to witness a high-profile contest. Taking on BJP strongman Jual Oram from the tribal-dominated seat are Janardan Dehury of the Congress and BJD’s Dilip Tirkey, an iconic hockey star. It is the only LS constituency in Odisha from where the BJD has never won an election. Jual has won the seat for a record number of five times since 1998 with it changing hands only once in 2009 when former chief minister and Congress veteran Hemananda Biswal won taking advantage of slit of votes in a four-cornered contest between BJP, Congress, JMM and CPM, and the Congress.
It will be Tirkey’s second attempt to unseat BJP veteran. The hockey star had lost to Jual in 2014 election by a margin of 18829 votes. The BJD candidate is expecting to sail through this time with the backing of the Christian community along with the hockey enthusiasts in a constituency known for its craze for the game.
Similarly, Rourkela assembly is going to witness a contest between two heavyweight candidates – former union minister Dilip Ray of the BJP and state Labour Minister Sarada Prasad Nayak of the BJD. Ray is a former central and state minister and three-time MLA from Rourkela, while Nayak is seeking his fourth term in the constituency.
