BJP president JP Nadda to visit Odisha in Sep

BJP national president JP Nadda will visit Odisha in September and participate in a workshop of leaders and workers of the party as part of the saffron camp's efforts to strengthen its organisation across the state and take on the ruling's BJD in the 2024 Lok Sabha and assembly elections, a party functionary said here on Wednesday.

The schedule of Nadda's visit and other senior leaders such as BJP's Odisha in-charge Sunil Bansal and national general secretary BL Santosh will be announced soon, the party's state unit general secretary Prithviraj Harichandan said. The Nadda's proposed programme in Odisha is considered significant as Union Home Minister Amit Shah during his recent visit to the state expressed displeasure over the BJP's performance in the panchayat and urban polls held earlier this year, according to sources in the party. ''Nadda will join a workshop of the party workers and leaders here and guide them how to implement the BJP's roadmap for the 2024 general elections,'' Harichandan said.

The saffron camp has recently appointed party strongman and Sambalpur MLA Jaynarayan Mishra as the Leader of Opposition in the assembly and also replaced its Odisha in-charge D Purendeswati with Bansal.

Bansal's appointment was made just two days after the Shah's visit to the state on August 8.

The top leadership of the camp reposed faith in Bansal as the BJP won the Uttar Pradesh elections in 2017 and 2022 when he looked after the party's organisation there as its general secretary. The saffron party secured eight Lok Sabha seats from Odisha in the 2019 elections, and won just one in the polls held five years ago. The party's top leadership had set the ''Mission 120+ seats'' in the 147-member state assembly in the 2019 elections but ended up winning just 23.