J P Nadda Meets BJP Leaders, Visits Jagannath Temple Before Concluding Odisha Visit

Bhubaneswar: Union Health Minister J P Nadda met senior leaders of the state BJP before concluding his two-day visit to Odisha.

According to sources, Nadda had a closed-door meeting with Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, state in-charge Vijay Pal Singh Tomar and its organisational secretary Manas Mohanty here on Friday.

The BJP national president also met Governor Hari Babu Kambhampati at Raj Bhavan in the presence of the chief minister and later visited the Shree Jagannath Temple in Puri. “Today, I have offered prayers at Jagannath Temple (in Puri). Whenever I come here, it provides me the strength to work for the society and the people. Offering prayers to Lord Jagannath, I have urged him to provide me the strength so that I and our party – under PM Modi’s leadership – continue to work for a ‘Viksit Bharat’,” Nadda told the media.

The meeting with party leaders here assumed significance amid speculation over appointment of the new president in the state. “It was an official visit of J P Nadda to attend the National Health Mission programme. He had tea with the Governor. Only 4 of the 17 crore committee members met him at the state guest house. This was an informal meeting,” BJP state president Manmohan Samal told IANS.

He further stated that the election process is on. “There is no deadline. You will get to know once the results are declared,” he added.

The state party vice-president Biranchi Narayan Tripathy said that the election for the state party president will be held through a proper process. “You will know about the new party president soon,”  he told PTI.