BJP chief Amit Shah back in Odisha in pursuit of ‘mission 120+’  

BHUBANESWAR:  Chasing the dream to instal a BJP Government in Odisha by ousting the ruling BJD, national BJP president Amit Shah is back here to review the progress made by the State unit of the party to achieve his ‘mission 120+’ in 2019 election.After setting the target for winning more than 120 out of 147 seats in the Odisha Assembly in September last year, Shah had also laid out elaborate organisational plans for the party.

Immediately after landing in the city, Shah got down to business by holding close door meetings with prabharis of 21 Assembly constituencies under three Lok Sabha seats of Cuttack, Bhubaneswar and Puri. It was followed by another meeting with vistaraks (party full timers working as propagators).

During his brainstorming session with prabharis and vistaraks, Shah asked them to make people aware of the “good work” done by Narendra Modi led Government at the Centre, said former minister Surama Padhi.

The main agenda of the meeting was how to strengthen the party at booth level to win the election. Asked if the party discussed about selection of candidates, the senior leader said no such discussion took place. 

Shah told party men to concentrate on strengthening the booths by reaching out to people. The party workers have been given the task to make door-to-door visit and explain the achievements of the Modi Government and failure of Naveen Patnaik Government, said national BJP secretary Suresh Pujari. Of 36,000 booths in the State, the party has so far constituted committee at 21,000 booths. Shah also addressed a meeting of Shakti Kendra Pramukhs and Saha Pramukhs and exhorted them work hard to achieve the target for next year’s election. Later, he held a meeting with party functionaries handling social medias.

“Amit Shah’s unparallel connect with grassroot level workers and his blessings will definitely infuse a new energy & vigour in Odisha’s Karyakartas & galvanise our efforts to script history & achieve ‘Mission 120’ in the upcoming Assembly poll,” Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan tweeted.

Tight schedule

Considered to be an election winning machine, Shah, a master strategist, has set a punishing schedule for him during his visit to the State. He held six separate meetings with party workers and leaders at the party headquarters here. The meeting with booth representatives, district prabharis and other organisational in-charges of  the three parliamentary constituencies -  Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Puri - is part of the cluster approach of Shah to finetune his electoral strategy for next elections. Earlier in April, he had similar meetings with party workers and leaders of three parliamentary seats of Balangir, Kalahandi and Nabrangpur during his two-day visit to western Odisha.

No issues for BJP in polls: BJD

Bhubaneswar: Even as BJP president Amit Shah exhorted party leaders and workers to cash in on the failures of the Naveen Patnaik Government in the state, the BJD said the saffron outfit does not have any issue to raise in next elections. Criticising Shah for doing politics on Lord Jagannath, Rajya Sabha member and BJD spokesperson Pratap Keshari Deb said no political party or leader has succeeded in this in the past. Deb also criticised Shah for telling half truths about Central Government funding to Odisha. The State Congress also did not attach much importance to Shah’s visit.