Bhubaneswar: With the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Amit Shah’s visit to Odisha due on February 15 — his third this year — the saffron party appears determined to hit the ground running in the state, where the Lok Sabha and the Assembly elections could be conducted simultaneously in April-May.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi will also hold two meetings in Odisha on Wednesday. He will address public meetings at Bhawanipatna in Kalahandi district and at Rourkela in Sundargarh district, said senior Congress leader Bhakta Das.This will be Gandhi’s second visit to the state this year.As the BJP could win only one Lok Sabha seat out of 21 in 2014, the rest was won by the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD), it would have to work harder this time. The BJP’s vote share of 21.50 per cent too was way behind the BJD’s 44.10 per cent and 26 per cent of the Congress.
But the party cadre this time appears confident of giving a tough fight to the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD, which has been in power in the state for the last 19 years.Strengthening of the organisation at the grassroots level and anti-incumbency will help the BJP make gains in the election.After back-to-back public meetings in the state by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Shah will address the party workers at Sambalpur on February 15. (PTI)
