BJP Confirms Date For PM Modi’s Second Visit To Odisha In A Month

Bhubaneswar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit Odisha on March 5, BJP state election co-in-charge Lata Usendi informed on Thursday.

She, however, added that the schedule of the Prime Minister’s Odisha trip is yet to be prepared.

Date of visit assumes significance as March 5 is the birth anniversary of legendary leader & BJD ideologue Biju Patnaik. There also have been speculation of alliance between the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and the state Assembly in April.

BJP’s Odisha unit president Manmohan Samal had earlier told the media that PM Modi will hold a public meeting at Chandikhole in Jajpur district, considered a stronghold of the ruling BJD, during his visit in first week of March.

This will be Modi’s second tour to Odisha after almost a month. During his visit to Sambalpur on February 3, he had inaugurated and laid foundation stones for projects worth more than Rs 68,000 crore. He also addressed a rally at Remed in the western Odisha town, kickstarting the BJP’s campaign in the state.

This was the first political visit by a top BJP leader ahead of the simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly polls later this year.

With the twin elections approaching, the Prime Minister, during his next visit, is likely highlight the benefits of different central schemes being implemented in the state. He will also tell the party workers and leaders to reach out to people by conducting door-to-door visits to apprise them of the Modi guarantee, sources said.