Bhanjanagar/Bhadrak/Joda: Panchayat elections are just a few months away. There is also the possibility of elections to civic bodies in Odisha that have been long overdue.
The three major political parties in Odisha – the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress – have started working out their respective strategies to achieve success in Ganjam district.
Leaders and workers of all the three parties have started holding meetings in villages and consulting with party workers at the grassroots level. The political atmosphere in villages of the district is slowly getting charged up.
A meeting of the BJD workers was held at the bungalow of the Forest department in Bhanjanagar constituency Sunday.
Forest, Environment and Climate Change Minister Bikram Keshari Arukha presided over the meeting.
The minister underscored the need for further strengthening of the party organization well ahead of the panchayat elections.
Arukha also held discussion with party workers about the executive body meeting of the party’s Ganjam district unit at Bhanjanagar September 15.
On the other hand, leaders of BJP and Congress have been trying to broaden their base and fixing fissures at the grassroots level.
Leaders of the two opposition parties were seen visiting frontline workers and taking their suggestion on how to strengthen their bases ahead of the panchayat and civic body polls.
In a boost to the BJD, over 500 supporters of other parties joined the ruling party at a meeting in Bhadrak Sunday.
BJP, CPM supporters join BJD in Sundargarh –
Joda: Ahead of the panchayat polls, the BJD received a boost Sunday, as a large number of workersof the CPM and the BJP from Keonjhar and Sundargarh joined the ruling party at a programme at Koida in Sundargarh district.
BJD’s organising secretary Pranab Prakash Das was the chief guest at the meeting. Speaking on the occasion, Das slammed both Congress and the BJP.
“Congress has exploited the state for years while the BIP is only making rhetoric. They have never paid attention to the development of Sundargarh,” he said.
He also said that the BJD government has set an example in the country by undertaking a host of welfare schemes. Das urged people to not fall in the trap of the CPM and the BJP but to strengthen the BJD.
Highlighting various welfare schemes undertaken by the BJD government in the state, he exhorted all to come out to ensure win of the BJD in the upcoming panchayat and general elections.
Chairperson of Koida block Rinarani Kumudia along with a hundred of her supporters joined the BJD. At total of 351 supporters of the CPM and the BJP joined the ruling party.
PNN