RAYAGADA/BHUBANESWAR : WITH the tribal votes of the state in the focus of all political parties, Rayagada district is all set to witness star campaigners making a beeline next month onwards. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Revanth Reddy, his counterpart from Telangana and former Congress president Rahul Gandhi are set to hit the campaign trail very soon.
The BJP, to keep pace, plans to invite either Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Home Minister Amit Shah, to checkmate the rivals.
The Congress is focusing on the constituencies which once were its fort. To wrest back the seats, Rahul is set to hold a meeting at Rayagada on May 3. All the Congress candidates of south Odisha will join the meeting of the Gandhi scion. Preparations are being given finishing touches under the supervision of Koraput MP Saptagiri Shankar Ulaka.
Similarly, Priyanka will attend a public meeting in Nabarangpur on May 5 or 9. The exact date will be finalised later, Odisha in-charge Ajoy Kumar said.
To double down the Congress efforts, Telangana CM Revanth Reddy will conduct roadshows in the three Assembly segments of Rayagada district after Rahul’s programme.
The day Rahul visits Rayagada, BJD supremo Naveen Patanik will hold a public meeting at Tikiri. To make the programme a success, a preparatory meeting was held at Tikiri under the leadership of district BJD president N Bhaskar Rao on Monday.
The BJP which appears to be lagging behind is yet to decide how to defend the rival onslaught. On May 4, Union Minister of State for Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways Shantanu Thakur was scheduled to visit but the programme was later cancelled. Now BJP leaders of undivided Koraput district intends to invite either PM Modi or Home minister Amit Shah to galvanise party members and candidates. District president of BJP Siba Patnaik said very soon a stalwart of the party will visit the district.
Meanwhile, battle lines have been drawn for the simultaneous polls in Rayagada district. As many as 30 candidates are in the fray for the upcoming polls in three Assembly constituencies (AC) of Rayagada. In Rayagada AC, ten candidates are locked in the fight, followed by eight in Bissamcuttack and 12 in Gunupur will test their luck.