Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived in Bhubaneswar on Sunday night for the election campaign.
He will hold public rallies in Brahmapur and Nowrangpur on Monday.
Odisha Police have tightened security arrangements for the PM’s visit.
On Sunday, BJP national president JP Nadda also arrived in Odisha. He released the party’s manifesto for the Odisha assembly elections 2024 and vowed to end the corruption of Biju Janata Dal.
“Our goal is ‘from resolution to accomplishment’…we will fulfil our commitments…it (Manifesto) is not a document, it is our implementation programme for the next 5 years. The day we make government, a sub-committee is made for the manifesto and every month we monitor our manifesto…Our goal will be to end the corruption of BJD, we will have zero tolerance towards corruption,” he said.
He mentioned that during the Congress era, the manifesto was only a formality. However, under the leadership of Modi ji, politics has become focused on a report card – a politics of reform, performance, and transformation.
“Under the leadership of Modi ji, the culture of politics, the definition and methods of politics have changed in the last 10 years. During the Congress era, the manifesto was just a show. It was something that neither the public had faith in nor the people who made it… it was just a formality. But today, under the leadership of Modi ji, there is politics of reform, politics of performance and politics of transformation, hence today’s politics has become the politics of report card,” he said.
He stated that non-BJP governed states suffer from caste, creed, regionalism, corruption, and nepotism.
“The states not governed by BJP are suffering due to the politics of caste, creed, regionalism, corruption, and nepotism… These have been the guiding principles for other political parties. However, the BJP is driven by the idea of ‘politics of development’,” he said.
He also blamed the previous governments for neglecting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s welfare initiatives.
“PM Modi’s welfare initiatives have benefited the marginalised and downtrodden sections of the society which were neglected by the erstwhile governments,” he said.
The Assembly elections will be held in Odisha in four phases, from May 13 to June 1, along with the Lok Sabha elections. The counting of votes will be held on June 4.
In the 2019 Assembly election, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) won 112 out of 146 seats, while Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) won 23 seats and Congress won 9.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) won the majority of seats in the state, while the BJP and the Congress brought up the rear. The BJD won 12 seats, the BJP finished a close second at 8, and the Congress bagged just a lone seat. (