BHUBANESWAR: Union Home Minister Amit Shah will address a public rally at Sonepur, one of the seven Assembly segments under the Balangir parliamentary constituency, on April 25.
State BJP vice president Golak Mohapatra on Saturday said the BJP stalwart will launch the campaign from the western Odisha town which will impact the seven Assembly segments under Balangir Lok Sabha seat. After the Sonepur rally, Shah will arrive at the state capital for a night halt. He will meet state leaders and workers of BJP and discuss electoral strategy.
Asserting BJP is going to form a double engine government in the state, Mohapatra said ‘Maa, Mati, Matrubhasa and Odia Asmita’ will be the main poll plank of the party. He said the poll campaign of the party will gather momentum after the visit of Shah. The union minister had last visited the state in August, 2023 sparking speculations of an electoral understanding with BJD after he met Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at the state secretariat followed by a secret meeting with Patnaik’s private secretary VK Pandian.
Shah’s Sonepur meeting will have an impact on the electorates of Balangir parliamentary constituency. The party has renominated four-time MP Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo from the Lok Sabha seat which covers Birmaharajpur, Loisingha, Balangir, Patnagarh, Titilagarh and Kantabanji Assembly segments. Balangir is one the four Lok Sabha seats going to polls on May 13.