Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday kicked off BJD’s campaigning for the ensuing twin elections from his home turf Hinjli Assembly constituency in Ganjam district.
He visited several places in Hinjili, Berhampur and Gopalpur Assembly segments. His cavalcade passed through 50 villages in these three segments and Naveen at every village requested people to vote for BJD candidates.
The BJD supremo also campaigned for his party candidates in Berhampur and Gopalpur in the district. “I am very confident that the Biju Janata Dal will do extremely well in the forthcoming elections,” he told reporters during his campaign.
He conducted roadshows in almost all 21 panchayats in Hinjili and 21 out of 22 panchayats in Sheragada block during his day-long hectic campaigning. Balichhai - the only panchayat in Sheragada block which was left out of his day’s campaign - will be covered on Thursday, said a BJD leader. The Chief Minister is scheduled to campaign in eight Assembly segments and address public meetings on Thursday.
Naveen is seeking re-election from Hinjili for the fourth consecutive time. He was first elected from the segment
in 2000 to the State Assembly and had won the seat by a margin of 26,417 votes over his Congress rival. The winning margin increased to 42,642 votes in 2004 and 61,273 votes in 2009.
(With PTI Inputs)