Puri: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman Thursday visited the Jagannath temple and offered prayers to the sibling deities in the 12th-century shrine here.
Accompanied by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra, local MLAs — Jayanta Sarangi and Lalitendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra —, Sitharaman spent more than 30 minutes inside the temple.
The FM also visited a sand art session on ‘Meri Maati, Mera Desh’ by sand artist Sudarshan Pattnaik.
Sitharaman and Pradhan also attended a plantation drive in Puri and visited the birthplace of freedom fighter Saheed Jayee Rajguru.
After returning to Bhubaneswar, Sitharaman and Pradhan will take part in a book launch and join the inauguration ceremony of the 20th National CA Conference.
Sitharaman arrived in Bhubaneswar on a two-day visit to Odisha on Wednesday night.
PTI
