Bhubaneswar: A day after BJD Supremo Naveen Patnaik set the pitch for BJD’s poll campaign for the forthcoming Lok Sabha and Vidha Sabha elections in Odisha, the BJP is ready to retaliate with Union Home Minister Amit Shah launching the party’s state campaign from Sonepur within the Balangir Lok Sabha constituency on Thursday.
According to sources within the party, the senior BJP leader will land at Veer Surendra Sai Airport, Jharsuguda, from Hyderabad at 3.45 pm and proceed to Sonepur via helicopter. He is scheduled to address a public gathering at Rameswaram Stadium in Sonepur around 4.35 pm.
After the public meeting at Sonepur, Shah will travel to Bhubaneswar via Jharsuguda and meet the party’s senior leaders during the night halt in the state capital.
Golak Mohapatra, BJP’s state vice-president, had earlier informed the media that the location for the meeting has been strategically chosen to have a significant impact on Balangir and the neighboring Lok Sabha constituencies. While Naveen Patnaik will be contesting from Kantabanji within the same parliamentary constituency, in addition to his usual stronghold of Hinjli, the adjacent Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat will witness a heated contest between Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and BJD’s organizational secretary Pranab Prakash Das.