"People have made up their minds to bring change in Odisha", says BJP president JP Nadda
May 16, 2024
Bhubaneshwar (Odisha) [India], May 16 : Intensifying the election campaign for the BJP for twin polls in Odisha, the party's National President JP Nadda held a grand roadshow in Bhubaneshwar on Thursday. He waved at the public and BJP supporters during the roadshow.
BJP has fielded Aparajita Sarangi from Bhubaneshwar against BJD's Manmath Routray. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Sarangi defeated Arup Mohan Patnaik from the BJD.
During the campaign trail, the BJP president slammed Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, saying that the people of Odisha have made up their minds to bring change in the state.
"The people have made up their minds to bring about change and to bless the BJP...As far as the Assembly elections are concerned, the people of Odisha have decided to give rest to CM Naveen Patnaik and the BJP will win the elections here. I also want to say that the people of Odisha want that there should be an active CM," Nadda said.
The assembly and Lok Sabha polls in the BJD-ruled state are being held across four phases--from May 13 to June 1. The counting of votes will be held on June 4.
Polling for the first phase was conducted in 28 Assembly seats and four Lok Sabha constituencies on May 13. In the fifth phase, 35 Assembly seats and five Lok Sabha constituencies will vote on May 20, 42 Assembly segments and six Lok Sabha seats on May 25 and the remaining 42 Assembly seats and six Lok Sabha constituencies in the last phase on June 1. The results will be out on June 4.
In the last assembly elections in 2019, the BJD won 112 out of 146 seats, while the BJP had to settle for just 23 seats and the Congress finished at 9.
In the Lok Sabha elections in the same year, the BJD mopped up the lion's share of the electoral spoils, with the BJP and the Congress bringing up the rear. The BJD won 12 seats, the BJP finished a close second at 8, and the Congress bagged just a lone seat.
