BJP will form next govt in Odisha, claims party in-charge Vijaypal Singh Tomar
Dr Rama Chandra Behera
Bhubaneswar, Feb. 11: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday exuded confidence of forming the next government in Odisha by ousting the ruling Biju Janata Dal from power.
Speaking to reporters after his arrival here at the Biju Patnaik International Airport, the saffron party’s Odisha election in-charge Vijaypal Singh Tomar said the party’s popularity graph in the state was rising and people would vote for a change this time.
“Odisha is going to have a double-engine government this time. We are confident of winning over 80 of the 147 assembly seats in the upcoming elections. As regards Lok Sabha elections, we are sure of the possible results. We are going to win over 16 out of the total 21 Lok Sabha seats in Odisha,” claimed Tomar.
As for the reported BJP-BJD bonhomie, Tomar said that the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has definitely given the party support in the Parliament several times, but that does not mean the BJP and BJD are friends.
He cited, “Former Telangana Chief Minister Chandrashekhar Rao, who is a political rival of BJP, has supported us on many issues and other leaders are supporting us on the basis of issues. Some other leaders are not supporting us.”
Tomar made it clear that the BJP will put up a strong fight against the BJD to register resounding victory in Lok Sabha and Odisha Assembly elections.
Party’s co-in-charge Lata Usendi who came to Odisha for the first time after assuming the charge for election in Odisha, said, “I came to the land of Lord Jagannath. Women in Odisha are with the BJP. Confidence among women is high. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a lot of work is being done by the NDA government for women’s welfare here in the state. In the days to come, women will hand out victory to the BJP here.”
Tomar held one-to-one meetings with top leaders of the party at the office on February 11.On Monday, he will meet party functionaries to chalk out strategies for the upcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections which will be held simultaneously later this year.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, BJP won 8 Lok Sabha seats in Odisha. Of the 147 assembly seats, it bagged 23.
