PM Narendra Modi To Visit Odisha In February First Week, State BJP Chief Confirms

Bhubaneswar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be visiting Odisha on February 3 to inaugurate the permanent campus of Indian Institute of Management, Sambalpur ((IIM-S) at Basantpur on the outskirts the city, state BJP president Manmohan Samal informed on Thursday.

The PMO, however, is yet to confirm the date and details of this official tour.

PM Modi was supposed to visit the IIM-S campus in December last year, but it was deferred due to his prior engagements. He had laid the foundation day of the campus, developed over an area of 200 acres at Rs 401 crore, through virtual mode on January 2, 2021.

The party sources said that the PM may also address a rally in Sambalpur and sound the poll bugle during his visit. This assumes significance amid speculation that Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan might contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from Sambalpur. Western Odisha is considered a BJP bastion and PM’s visit to the region is likely to have a positive impact on neighbouring Parliamentary constituencies of Bargarh, Balangir, Kalahandi and Sundargarh, which are being represented by its MPs.

Keeping an eye on the upcoming polls, PM Modi is likely to visit all the major states at least once before February 5. The tour began with visit to southern states – Tamil Nadu, Lakshadweep and Kerala – and Rajasthan in first week of January. He then visited Gujarat, Maharashtra and Jharkhand.

According to reports, Modi will make two visits to large states while he would visit a few of the smaller states once.