BJP to hold 100 election rallies in Odisha

The BJP plans to hold 100 election rallies in Odisha, with key speakers like PM Modi and Amit Shah. Simultaneous elections to 147 assembly seats and 21 Lok Sabha constituencies will be held in four phases from May 13. BJD MLA Sudhir Samal believes Naveen Patnaik will win another term as CM.

The BJP, which is aiming to topple the Naveen Patnaik government in Odisha, plans to hold as many as 100 election rallies in the state, with key speakers including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

Odisha BJP vice-president Golak Mohapatra on Sunday said that mega rallies will be held in all the 21 Lok Sabha constituencies, which besides Modi and Shah, BJP president JP Nadda and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh would also address.

The party on Saturday held a meeting here on strategies for the polls.

Simultaneous elections to 147 assembly seats and 21 Lok Sabha constituencies will be held in Odisha in four phases from May 13.

Modi has addressed two rallies in Sambalpur and Chandikhole on February 3 and March 5 respectively. Besides, Rajnath Singh and former MP chief minister Shivraj Singh Chovan have also held meetings in the state.

Mohapatra said that while top party leaders and Union ministers will address the public meetings in parliamentary constituencies, several chief ministers including Uttar Pradesh's Yogi Adityanath and Assam's Himanta Biswa Sharma, will address rallies in different assembly segments.

Mohapatra said that the preparations for the campaign are underway and corruption and crime against women will be highlighted in it.

BJD MLA Sudhir Samal, on the other hand, asserted that the people of Odisha have ''decided to bless'' Naveen Patnaik with another term in office to make him the longest-serving CM of the country, and that the party would sweep the polls.