Bhubaneswar: In what is seen as a preparatory exercise for 2024 polls, Odisha Chief Minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday held an important meeting to get feedback from party leaders on Padampur Assembly by-election.
Leaders of the ruling party, who had been assigned different tasks for Padampur bypoll held on December 5, met the BJD supremo in Naveen Niwas and apprised him about the various steps taken to bolster the party’s prosects in the Assembly segment in Bargarh district.
The meeting assumes significance as it was held on the eve of counting of votes polled in the by-election with sources in the ruling party saying that it marks the beginning of the framing a well-thought strategy for the simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly polls to be held in 2024.
While the Chief Minister was given feedback on the bypoll, the BJD chief’s focus now is on the road ahead as he asked the leaders to prepare detailed reports about the future needs in their respective areas in order to further enhance the party’s popularity, they said.
Voicing confidence about a ‘big win’ for BJD in Padampur bypoll, senior BJD leaders, including legislators, claimed that party candidate Barsha Singh Bariha will emerge victorious with a huge margin of votes.
“We apprised the Chief Minister about the field work done by us in Padampur in the run up to the by-election. We told him about the ground situation and how the party’s prospects got further brightened after his visit,” Dhenkanal MLA Sudhir Samal said.
The BJD president was informed about the possible leading margin for the party in different segments of the constituency, he said.
Stating that BJD has all along been with the people of Padampur, he said the voters also stood solidly with the party and their enthusiasm increased manifold after the Chief Minister visited the constituency and addressed public meetings.
BJD’s vote percentage definitely increased after Naveen’s visit as people were highly excited to see their popular leader, Samal said, adding that the party will further accelerate the process of development in the region.
Expressing similar views, another senior leader Sharada Nayak said the Chief Miister has asked partymen to prepare and submit reports about specific programmes required for different areas of the state.
Other leaders, including former MP Pradip Majhi, said that the bypoll results will be declared on Thursday and everyone will get to know the increasing popularity of BJD because of the work it has been doing for the development of the state and welfare of its people.
