Bhubaneswar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will campaign for BJP ahead of the first-round of elections in Odisha on May 13.
“PM Modi will address two public rallies in two parliamentary constituencies on May 6. At 10 am, he will address a massive public rally in Berhampur followed by a mega rally in Nabarangpur at 12.30 pm,” BJP Odisha unit vice president Golak Mohapatra told the media on Wednesday.
Gopalpur MLA Pradeep Panigrahy had earlier informed about Modi’s visit to Berhampur, where the former is contesting as the BJP MP candidate.
It will be the second visit by a national leader of the saffron party to Berhampur in Ganjam district, which is considered a BJD bastion, in eight days.
On April 28, BJP national president J P Nadda addressed a Vijay Sankalp Samavesh at Ambapua near Berhampur after Union Minister Amit Shah kicked off the party’s campaign in the state on April 25 from Sonepur.
In February, veteran BJP leader and Union minister Rajnath Singh addressed a public rally in Berhampur.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is seeking re-election for the sixth term from Hinjli, also in Ganjam district which sends 13 MLAs to the state Assembly, the highest for any district in the state. In 2019, BJD won 12 seats and Congress 1 in Ganjam district. The Conch party has also been winning the Berhampur Lok Sabha seat for the last 3 elections. BJD has also been successively triumphing in Aska parliamentary seat, the other Lok Sabha constituency in Ganjam.
In the upcoming elections, Pradeep Panigrahi, who was expelled from BJD and later joined the BJP, is pitted against Bhrugu Baxipatra, the former state vice-president of BJP who was rewarded with a ticket after switching sides to BJD. The Congress has fielded Rasmiranjan Patnaik from the seat.
Earlier in an exclusive interview to a national TV channel, Modi said the BJP should get a chance to serve Odisha, as it can take the state to great heights. “At the state level, Odisha is losing its self-respect. Odia language is under threat. I don’t think that the people of Odisha will be able to tolerate this for long. It has so much resources that today Odisha could have been the richest state of India. But what kind of condition has been created? The common people of Odisha have aspirations. I think we should get a chance to serve. We will take Odisha to great heights.”
