BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and Union Education minister Dharmendra Pradhan are among the 40 star campaigners of BJP announced for the Jharkhand Assembly elections.
Majhi, a senior tribal leader, is expected to play a significant role in attracting the votes of Odia-speaking people to the BJP. Jharkhand has a substantial Odia-speaking population. Majhi being a tribal has an added advantage for the BJP in the state where STs are a majority.
During his two-day visit to Jharkhand in last week of September, the Odisha chief minister had addressed public meetings at Singhbhum and Chaibasa.
Pradhan, the Lok Sabha MP from Sambalpur, has already managed BJP campaign in several states including the recent election in Haryana where he played a key role in securing the party’s spectacular victory.
Assembly polls will be held in Jharkhand in two phases on November 13 and 20. Altogether 40 leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president JP Nadda, Home minister Amit Shah and Defence minister Rajnath Singh, along with several other Union ministers and chief ministers of BJP-ruled states, have been included in the list of star campaigners for the state.