With the next Lok Sabha election approaching, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is on mission mode to win the maximum number of Lok Sabha seats in Odisha.
Odisha has 21 Lok Sabha constituencies, of which BJP had won eight seats in 2019 while BJD got 12 seats and another went to the kitty of Congress.
BJP’s LS seats in Odisha have been increased from one to eight in 2019. So, this has encouraged the party to work in a mission mode to further increase the number of Lok Sabha seats to a greater height in the 2024 elections.
While Union Ministers are frequently visiting various parliamentary segments under Lok Sabha Prabas Yojana, senior party leaders including state in-charge Sunil Bansal are holding meetings to prepare strategy to strengthen base in the constituencies.
During the visits, the Union Minister reviewed implementation of schemes and welfare programmes of their ministries. They also took feedback whether the central government schemes are reaching at the grassroots or not.
Now, it seems that the BJP has put top gear in its fight against the ruling BJD. The party has made a scathing attack on the power centre in Odisha. Starting from national president J.P. Nadda’s recent visit to Odisha, the state leadership contentiously attacked the Naveen Patnaik government over various issues.
At the same time, the party has been giving emphasis on booth management. Two Vistaraks from each assembly constituency in Odisha had joined PM Narendra Modi’s workshop held in Bhopal recently.
According to party sources, the BJP planned to retrain its eight LS seats with a focus on 13 Lok Sabha constituencies, where the party tasted defeat in 2019. The party has decided to prepare a specific strategy for each LS segment.
Recently, party in-charge of Odisha Sunil Bansal held a closed-door meeting with party leaders from 13 Lok Sabha constituencies. Bansal conducted the meeting after attending party’s meeting in Guwahati which was held to discuss preparations and strategies for 12 eastern India states including Odisha for the 2024 general elections.
He discussed the party’s status in all the LS constituencies submitted by district in-charges and matched it with the reports submitted by Union Ministers under Lok Sabha Prabas Yojana to decide the future course of action of the party, the source said.
Besides, he also held meetings with Vistaraks and suggested strategies to reach out to voters at the booth-level. They will visit every home in each booth and make the voters aware of the alleged failures of the BJD government and about the welfare measures taken by the Modi government.
“We are making plans and strategies to win all Lok Sabha seats in Odisha as people of the state are with us. Maha Jan Sampark Abhiyan is going on while some new programmes will be taken up keeping the election in view,” said Odisha BJP president Manmohan Samal.
All the programmes are being executed as per plan. In between, as per need, new strategies and programmes are being discussed with senior leaders and central leadership. After all, the party will go for the 2024 poll with a comprehensive strategy, he said, adding, the details will be disclosed later.
According to a local political observer, BJP has seen a scope to rise in Odisha, so they may be working to win maximum seats in the state. However, they need to strengthen their base at booth-level because here in Odisha, BJD is their prime opponent, not Congress, he said.
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