BHUBANESWAR : Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to visit Odisha in the first week of February to dedicate the new campus of the Indian Institute of Management, Sambalpur (IIM-S) to the nation.
Sources in the BJP said February 3 is the probable date of the proposed visit of the PM to the western Odisha town of Sambalpur, but there has been no official confirmation yet from the Prime Minister’s Office.
Earlier, the PM was supposed to inaugurate the IIM-S campus on December 24, 2023. However, it was deferred due to his pressing engagements.
“As the prime minister will kick-start his poll campaign for a third term from western Uttar Pradesh from January 25, we are hopeful about his visit to the state this time. Apart from opening the new campus for which he laid the foundation stone in 2021, the PM will address a rally in Sambalpur, the political nerve centre of western region of the state,” said a state BJP functionary. The proposed visit of the PM to Sambalpur assumes significance as western Odisha region is the bastion of the BJP. Five of the eight Lok Sabha members of the party are from western Odisha.
Speculations are rife that Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan will be the BJP nominee from Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat which is currently represented by Nitesh Gang Deb.
If the PM’s visit to Sambalpur materialises, it will have a positive impact on neighbouring Parliamentary constituencies of Bargarh, Balangir, Kalahandi and Sundargarh, all having BJP MPs, the sources said.
PM Modi last visited the state in June 2023 during the Bahanaga train accident in Balasore district.