Amit Shah To Arrive In Odisha Today; Is Meeting With CM Naveen Patnaik On Agenda?

Bhubaneswar: Union Home Minister and senior BJP leader Amit Shah’s sudden visit to Odisha from Friday, three days after the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) announced its support for the National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, which was passed by the Lok Sabha Thursday, has heated up the political climate in the state with the Assembly and general elections due in nine months.

The regional party had also announced to oppose the no-confidence motion against the Narendra Modi government over Manipur violence.

According to official sources, Shah will arrive at Biju Patnaik International Airport here in a special aircraft of the Indian Air Force at 10.40 pm on Friday and proceed to Raj Bhawan for night halt. Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan will accompany Shah from Delhi.

The Union Home Minister is scheduled to inaugurate a Bharatmala project of the National Highways Authority of India at Lok Seva Bhawan on Saturday and thereafter, attend meetings on left-wing extremism and disaster management. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will be present at all these events scheduled from 11 am to 12 noon.

Though it is not clear if the two leaders will have a one-on-one meeting on the sidelines of the programme, at least 30 minutes have been reserved for a “meeting” after the scheduled events, sources said.

However, there is no official conformation from either side on it. Naveen and Shah last met one-on-one in New Delhi in May 2022 ahead of the presidential election.

After the official business, Shah will proceed to the state BJP headquarters around 1.20 pm where he will have lunch followed by a a three-hour meeting with state office-bearers of the party. He is scheduled to fly back to Delhi at 6 pm,

Notably, Shah’s visit to Odisha on June 17 was cancelled in view of the Biparjoy cyclone in Gujarat.