BHUBANESWAR: Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s meeting with BJP MLAs, MPs and state office-bearers on the first day of his visit to the state from Friday has generated a lot of curiosity in political circles.
While it has given rise to much speculations, state BJP president Manmohan Samal told reporters that no formal agenda has been set for the discussion and everything will be known only when the prime minister conducts the meeting. “There is nothing unusual about it. This is the style of functioning of the prime minister. He will set the agenda,” he said.
“We expect that the prime minister will take stock of the performance of the new government as the people’s expectations are very high. He may ask the party legislators and functionaries to rate the government to know if they are happy with its functioning,” said a senior party leader.
State party vice-president Golak Mohapatra, however, said the prime minister is fully focused on Odisha and his only agenda is development of the state. This can be gauged from his frequent visits to the state.
“He has a conviction that Odisha will be the growth engine under Purvodaya for which the central government has been assisting the state with liberal financial assistance in the last 10 years even when the BJP was in opposition,” Mohapatra said.
“With his long experience as chief minister and prime minister, we are confident that Modi has a roadmap for the state which he may share at the meeting,” said another senior leader of the party.