BHUBANESWAR: Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s sudden visit to Odisha amidst announcement of state office-bearers of the BJP has fuelled speculations in political circles here as it comes a day after BJD’s support to the National Capital Territory of Delhi (amendment) Bill in Lok Sabha.
Though a one-on-one meeting between Shah and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has not been announced officially by both sides, a slot of 30 minutes has been reserved at the convention centre of the state secretariat after the scheduled official programmes.
Official sources said the chief minister will be present at both the official programmes- inauguration of the Bharatmala project of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and meeting on left wing extremism and disaster management.
There is intense speculation in both BJD and BJP camps about the meeting as talks of an early Assembly election in the state is doing the rounds. After the programmes at the state secretariat convention centre, Shah will leave for the state BJP headquarters where he will have lunch followed by a three hour meeting with party leaders and office-bearers.
Shah’s meeting with state BJP leaders also assumes significance in the present political situation in the state. Sources said he will review the organisational preparedness of the party for the 2024 elections with the new office-bearers. A faction of the state BJP led by president Manmohan Samal wants the party to adopt an aggressive posture against the BJD and state government. Shah is expected to discuss the roadmap for the party to face the elections in this context.
Shah will be accompanied by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in all the official and party programmes here. Shah and the chief minister last met one-on-one in New Delhi in May last year ahead of the presidential election. Earlier, Shah’s visit to Odisha scheduled on June 17 was cancelled because of cyclone Biparjoy which affected Gujarat.
Samal said the state leaders and workers are enthusiastic about the visit of the Union Home minister. He said BJP will aggressively take on BJD in the next elections and form government in the state.