BJP Will Sweep Odisha Assembly Polls: Arun Singh

Bhubaneswar: Senior BJP leader and Odisha-in-charge Arun Singh on Saturday claimed that his party will make a clean sweep in the forthcoming Assembly elections in Odisha.

Talking to mediapersons soon after his arrival at the Biju Patnaik International Airport here, Singh said the organisational strength of the saffron party has gone up by 10 folds in Odisha.

“Popularity of Prime Minister Modi in Odisha is massive. Considering the gross failure of the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD government, the BJP will make a clean sweep in the Assembly election and win in more than 120 seats,” he added.

Asked about the pre-poll survey done by the ABP and the Republic TV predicting that BJP will win in about 13 out of 21 Lok Sabha seats in Odisha, Singh said his party will win more seats. “We will overthrow the Naveen Patnaik government,” he maintained.

Asked about the proposal of the State BJP on the candidature of the Prime Minister from Puri, he said the decision would be taken by him and the BJP Parliamentary Board.

Reacting to the statement of the BJP leader, BJD spokesperson Amar Prasad Satpathy said that the saffron party, after the panchayat elections, had lost all elections in Odisha.

“The position of the BJP in Uttar Pradesh has worsened with the defeat of Chief Minister Adityanath Jogi in his home constituency Gorakhpur in the by-election,” Satpathy said.

Commenting on the proposal of the state BJP to field the Prime Minister as a candidate from Puri Lok Sabha constituency, he said this is an assessment of the party. “Let the BJP make a formal announcement to this effect after which the BJD will give its reply. What the BJP Odisha pravari has said is only to encourage the party workers in Odisha,” he pointed out.

Replying to a question on this issue, Puri MLA and Revenue and Disaster management minister Maheswar Mohanty said the BJD will have no problem if the Prime Minister decides to contest from Puri.

“It is the sole right and decision of a person to choose a constituency at will to contest the election. As the root of the BJD has gone deeper, it will face no problem if the Prime Minister contests from Puri as the regional party enjoys massive support of the people,” he added.