Bhubaneswar: The state will witness another round of pre-election battle between the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Friday as Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and saffron brigade president Amit Shah will attend separate programmes to boost their respective parties’ prospects. While Shah will address party workers at Sambalpur, Naveen will launch distribution of KALIA money among landless laboureres in Kendrapara.
Shah will address booth-level workers of four Lok Sabha constituencies—Sambalpur, Bargarh, Sundergarh and Dhenkanal, at a meeting in Sambalpur, BJP state unit in-charge Arun Singh said here Thursday. All eyes are on what message Shah imparts to his partymen, as the BJP chief is sometime soft on BJD and at times comes down heavily on the Naveen Patnaik government.
Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath are also scheduled to visit the state soon to campaign for the BJP. Rajnath Singh will visit Bhadrak February 17, while Adityanath will address a public meeting in Kalahandi, February 20.
Union Minister Ram Kripal Yadav along with Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan addressed an OBC rally in Bolangir, Thursday.
To counter the Shah’s rally, Naveen will grace a mega government programme at Kendrapara Friday. The Chief Minister will start distribution of first installment of Rs 5,000 to about 5 lakh landless agricultural laborerers under the KALIA scheme and address a mass gathering of party workers there. Naveen will also distribute the second phase of KALIA money to 14 lakh small and marginal farmers in Bargarh, February 22.
The Congress, which has already organised three rallies addressed by party top brass Rahul Gandhi in Bhubaneswar, Bhawanipatna and Rourkela, has also planned to invite him again in the last week this month.
