Odisha BJP Leaders Throng Temples With Supporters After Historic Poll Victory

Bhubaneswar: Several BJP leaders, including Aparajita Sarangi and Baijayant Panda who won the Bhubaneswar and Kendrapada Lok Sabha seats, and Suryavanshi Suraj, who won the Assembly seat from Dhamnagar, were seen offering prayers in different temples of Odisha on Wednesday.

Aparajita, who had visited the Lingaraj Temple before starting the election campaign and just before the polls, visited the shrine again on Wednesday along with her supporters. Babu Singh, who won the Assembly elections from Ekamra Bhubaneswar on BJP ticket, also accompanied her. “I have come here to dedicate my victory to Lord Lingaraj. I kept the certificate of elections on the Lord’s feet,” she said.

She thanked Lord Lingaraj for giving her over 25,000 leads from the Ekamra area alone. She said she and Singh would work day and night for development of the area.

“Lord Lingaraj is our “Aradhya Devta”. He is the owner of this area and we have come here to take his blessings,” Singh told media.

BJP leader Baijayant Panda was also seen at a local temple in Bhubaneswar. “I congratulate and thank the people of Odisha and Kendrapada for voting for ‘change’ which was necessary for Odia Asmita and the state’s development. It is a historic decision. The double-engine government will bring development to Odisha. The Modi guarantees will be implemented and the Chief Minister would be an Odiya son or daughter,” Panda told media after offering prayers.

Similarly, Suryabanshi Suraj, who won Dhamnagar Assembly seat, visited the Lord Jagannath temple in Puri and took the sibling deities’ blessings. “I had dedicated myself completely to Lord Jagannath and so my confidence level was infinite,” he said and added that all promises related to the temple including opening of four doors and review of Ratna Bhandra report will be fulfilled by BJP.

Suraj defeated BJD candidate Sanjay Kumar Das by 8,095 votes.

The young BJP leader also said his assurance to the youth of Dhamnagar will be kept. “I had promised I will give employment to 100 youths from each panchayat within five years if I win and by 10 years if I don’t win. It was not a political statement but my commitment,” he told media after offering his prayers.