By PTI
BHUBANESWAR: Union minister and senior BJP leader Dharmendra Pradhan has asked party members to focus on door-to-door campaigning in Odhisha in the ensuing panchayat elections, underscoring the Centre’s welfare schemes for the state.
The state election commission has prohibited rallies, public meetings and road shows in Odisha in the wake of a surge in COVID-19 cases.
Pradhan, during a virtual address, told party members that young voters should also be contacted and apprised of the achievements of the Narendra Modi government through ‘phone-to-phone’ campaigns.
“Tell people how PM Modi has made Odisha the laboratory of welfare of the poor,” the Union Education Minister said, adding, the saffron brigade should highlight the central government’s “highest-ever” Rs 9,734-crore allocation for railway development in Odisha.
“The Union government has accorded priority to Odisha in railway, education, agriculture and several other sectors. The message should reach the grass-root level,” he said.
Pradhan said the BJP leaders in the state should also make mention of BJD’s “loot” of public money in the name of developmental schemes. Polling will be held in five phases on February 16, 18, 20, 22, and 24.
BJP spokesperson Golak Mohapatra said a number of senior leaders, including Pradhan, Smriti Irani, Giriraj Singh and Narendra Singh Tomar, will soon start campaigning for the rural polls through the virtual mode. The saffron party has fielded 848 candidates for zilla parishad posts out of 852 positions. The BJD has 851 candidates and the Congress 836 nominees.
