New Delhi, May 4 (FN Representative) In the run-up to the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Odisha, the BJP has intensified its election campaign with the arrival of central leaders in thestate.Union External Affairs Minister S. Jayashankar arrived on Saturday for a two-day visit to the state to boost the morale of the party workers.Jayashankar will address an intellectual conference in Bhubaneswar in the evening and attend a party meeting in Cuttack on Sunday.The Union Minister is also scheduled to address another intellectual conference in Sambalpur in Western Odisha on Sunday.BJP National President J.P. Nadda is also arriving on Sunday to address the party leaders and workers in Bhubaneswar and Cuttack to discuss election strategies for both the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in the state. However, all eyes are on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who will address two public meetings,one each at Berhampur and Nabarangpur on May 6.Both Berhampur and Nabarangpur Lok Sabha seats are going to polls on May 13, along with Kalahandi and Koraput Lok Sabha seats, besides 28 Assembly seats under these four parliamentary constituencies. On April 25, Union Home Minister Amit Shah had kicked off BJP’s electioneering in Odisha, making a scathing attack on the Naveen Patnaik government for indulging in corruption while running the government with the officers.
Addressing an election rally in Sonepur in Western Odisha, a stronghold of the party, Shah appealed to the people to bring the BJP to power in the state and make Odisha the number one state in the country.The Union Minister sharpened his attack on the Chief Minister, asking the people to root out the Naveen Patnaik government from the state. Shah said, “You have given power to Naveen Patnaik for 25 years, and now give five years to BJP, assuring that the state will march ahead with development as happened in other states run by the double-engine government.”The BJP has decided to make Odia pride, the future of Odisha, and corruption its main election plank to take on the 24 years rule of the Naveen Patnaik government, which the party alleges is being run by a coterie of bureaucrats. Meanwhile, BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik also on Saturday launched his party’s election campaign at Koraput,targeting the Opposition for shedding crocodile tears on the development of the state.Accusing the Opposition of telling all lies, Patnaik sought the blessings of the people and asked them to vote for the conch, the party symbol, for both the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.The BJD supremo has appealed to the people to vote for a double conch(one for the Lok Sabha and the other for Assembly) to counter the double engine government advocated by the BJP.Odisha will go to polls for both Lok Sabha and Assembly on May 13, 20, 25 and June 1.