Bhubaneswar: With Assam already won in the east, Odisha is the next state in the BJP’s “look east” agenda. The party wants to capture power in the state in the 2019 Assembly polls, toppling the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD government that is ruling the state for the fourth consecutive term.
After registering spectacular performances in the recent rural polls in which the party won 297 Zilla Parishad seats, a significant improvement over its 2012 figure of 38, the party has decided to hold the national executive meeting in the state from April 15 to April 16 to further inspire the party’s state leaders and rank and file to work hard with more dedication to bring the party to power in 2019.
Capturing power in the state would also be taking sweet revenge on Mr Patnaik, who had unceremoniously snapped 11-year-old ties with the BJP just on the eve of 2009 general elections and Assembly polls.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah, Union ministers Rajnath Singh and Arun Jaitley, and chief ministers of all BJP-ruled states will attend the national executive meeting.
