Bhubaneswar: With the 2019 general elections drawing closer, top brasses of the national parties – BJP and Congress – started visiting the state.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi will address two public meetings at Bhawanipatna in Kalahandi district and Rourkela in Sundargarh district Wednesday. This will be Gandhi’s second visit to the state this year. Last month, the Congress president had visited Bhubaneswar and addressed a rally.
According to sources, Rahul will first address a gathering at Bhawanipatna at around 11 am. Thereafter, he will fly to Rourkela to address another rally there at about 2 pm and leave for New Delhi at 4 pm.
Congress Chief Whip Tara Prasad Bahinipati said, “When Rahul Gandhi had come here last time, thousands of people had gathered at the meeting venue. The two meetings tomorrow will also be successful whatever hindrances may come on the way.”
After the back-to-back public meetings in the state by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Shah will address the party workers at Sambalpur February 15, said State BJP president Basant Panda.
Panda said around 60,000 booth-level workers from four Lok Sabha constituencies – Dhenkanal, Bargarh, Sambalpur and Sundargarh – will attend the February 15 meeting.
This will be the third visit of Shah this year as the saffron party appears to be determined to hit the ground in the State, where general elections are due in April-May along with the Assembly polls.
Earlier, Shah had addressed a meeting at Salipur in Cuttack district January 29 and the BJP Scheduled Tribe Morcha’s two-day national convention in Puri February 3.
While the BJP could win only one of the 21 Lok Sabha seats in the state in 2014, the remaining were by the Biju Janata Dal (BJD). 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. This time the saffron brigade is leaving no stone unturned to secure more seats.
The party cadres too appear to be confident this time and hope to give a tough fight to the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD, which has been in power in the state for the last 19 years. Strengthening the organisation at the grassroots level and anti-incumbency issue may help the BJP make gains in the ensuing elections, feel party leaders.
Congress, which is has a strong base in the western region, is trying to gain mileage from its victory in neghibouring Chhattisgarh.
Chief Minister Patnaik too is on a whirlwind tour of the state to keep the two national parties at bay. Tuesday, Patnaik inaugurated several projects in the Nabarangpur and Koraput districts.
Reacting to the visit of national leaders to western Odisha, BJD spokesperson Pushpendra Singhdeo said, “These leaders are visiting the regions in western Odisha because they know that it is a bastion of the BJD. BJD’s organisation is strong there and this has scared these national parties.”
“In the upcoming election, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will once again come to power in the State with more votes. It is crystal clear,” the BJD leader claimed.