Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah yesterday said his party will sweep the Odisha polls in 2019 under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Shah, who has set a target to win 120 plus seats in the 147-member state assembly, yesterday held closed door meetings with state leaders to fine tune poll strategies.
“Addressed a meeting with Shakti Kendra incharges and co-incharge in Bhubaneswar. With such energy and enthusiasm among Odisha BJP karyakartas, the BJP is all set to sweep Odisha in 2019, under the leadership of the prime minister,” tweeted Shah.
Shah’s visit to Odisha follows his tour of West Bengal and Manipur.
During his address to poll booth workers, Shah targeted the Odisha government over the missing keys of the Jagannath temple’s Ratna Bhandar, saying if it cannot safeguard the hopes of Hindus, how could it protect the state’s interests.
The BJP chief also asked the party workers to reach out to booth-level supporters within 15 days and highlight the welfare work of the central government and raise the issue of the alleged failure of the Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government in the state, said a BJP leader.
Shah also held meetings with two leaders from each of the panchayats in the 21 assembly segments in Bhubaneswar, Puri and Cuttack Lok Sabha constituencies.
He also held closed door meetings with the party ‘prabharis’ of parliamentary and assembly constituencies and social media team separately.
“Shah’s guidance will surely inject a new enthusiasm and energy among BJP workers and will strengthen the party at the booth level,” said Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
The party has focused on Odisha, which will witness both general and assembly elections in 2019. The party hopes it has a chance to come to power in the state by riding on Modi’s popularity and the prevailing anti-incumbency against the BJD, which has been in power for the last 18 years.

Trinamool holds rally to counter Shah’s meet

IANS/Kolkata

In a bid to counter Bharatiya Janata Party president Amit Shah’s public meeting in West Bengal’s Purulia district, the ruling Trinamool Congress yesterday held a rally in the area and vowed to stop the “separatist forces and riot mongers” from entering the state.
Ridiculing Shah’s claims of winning more than 22 Lok Sabha seats from West Bengal in the 2019 general elections, Trinamool said that the party would end up losing two Lok Sabha seats it hey currently has in the state and draw a blank.
“The person, a prime accused in many murder cases in Gujarat, is coming here to foment unrest and making tall claims. He has no idea about Bengal’s tradition, culture and prior situations. We want to clarify that there is no place for riot mongers in Bengal,” Urban Development Minister Firhad Hakim said at the meeting.
“He is talking about 22 Lok Sabha seats. Forget 22, they will even lose in the Darjeeling and Asansol seats that they currently hold. The BJP will score a big zero in Bengal in the 2019 elections,” he claimed.
The minister said people like Shah who come from Delhi or Gujarat have no idea about how much the situation has changed for the good in the Maoist-infested districts under Chierf Minister Mamata Banerjee.
“During the Left rule, these people did not have the guts to visit Jungle Mahal because at that time there was no democracy here. Many people were killed. The entire region was suffering from the dual attacks of the Maoists and Left Front-backed goons. Under Banerjee’s able leadership, we have brought peace,” Hakim said.
Women Development and Social Welfare Minister Shashi Panja, who was present at the meeting, said the Trinamol Congress is the only party in West Bengal that cares about the lives and traditions of the tribal communities here.
“We love the tribal communities and have always respected their contribution to society. Trinamool Congress observed the ‘Hool festival’ yesterday and celebrated the Santhal rebellion and their bravery against the British rule in Bengal. Did the BJP president say a single thing about it? No, he did not,” Panja added.
Shah, who came on a two-day trip to West Bengal, met the villagers in Purulia as part of the party’s ‘Jan Sampark Abhiyan’ on June 28 and later held a public meeting on the outskirts of the town where he vowed to uproot the Banerjee government and claimed that his party would emerge as the largest political outfit after the 2019 elections.
Meanwwhile, a senior Congress party leader said the Congress and Left parties need to come together in a political front or on a common platform in West Bengal to effectively fight the “murder of democracy” by the ruling Trinamool Congress and the “communal agenda” of the BJP.