No Reason To Be Satisfied With Poll Outcome in Odisha: Dharmendra

Bhubaneswar: Union Minister and senior BJP leader Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday asked party workers not to be satisfied with the poll results and carry on with their political struggle to consolidate the party’s base in Odisha.

Addressing party workers here during a felicitation function, the Minister suggested that they work hard and understand the nuances of the political system for electoral success.

The recently-held elections have thrown up a mixed bag for the saffron party in Odisha.

While it improved its tally and won as many as eight Lok Sabha seats, the party’s show in the Assembly polls remained dismal. It could win only 23 seats while the ruling BJD made a strong comeback, winning 112 seats.

Minister of State for MSME Pratap Sarangi, said those who are working against party ethics have no place in BJP. “People who are engaging in anti-party activities will face the same fate as traitors such as Mir Jafar and Mir Qasim”, he cautioned.

A few party MLAs were of the view that BJP trailed and lost in 82 seats due to some mistakes, which the party will analyse.

Earlier in the day, both the union ministers visited Puri to seek the blessings of Lord Jagannath along with other BJP leaders.

This was the first visit of the leaders to Odisha after they were sworn in as union ministers in the Narendra Modi 2.0 Cabinet.

Sarangi, who has hogged limelight across the nation ever since the poll results due to his simple lifestyle, remained the key attraction during his visit to Puri as well as during the felicitation function here.