Mission 120+ remains BJP agenda: Pradhan

Bhubaneswar: BJP’s Mission 120+, the party’s campaign in the run up to the assembly election in the state to win at least 120 of the 147 seats, continues to remain BJP’s agenda, Union petroleum and steel minister Dharmendra Pradhan said here on Saturday.
Speaking at an event organised by the BJP state unit to felicitate him and Union minister of state Pratap Sarangi for becoming part of Narendra Modi’s council of ministers, Pradhan said, “Political workers can’t afford to relax till they ensure the entire system is controlled by their ideology. Till we achieve the Mission 120+, we in the BJP can’t free ourselves from the responsibility,” Pradhan said.
BJP president Amit Shah announced Mission 120+ in August 2017. The BJP has won 23 MLA seats in the last Vidhan Sabha election that saw Naveen Patnaik-led BJD sweep by winning 112 seats.
Pradhan said compared to other parts of the country, Odisha had not reposed so much faith in Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014. However, in the last election more than one crore people in Odisha have reposed faith in the PM and elected eight Lok Sabha MPs, puncturing claims of rivals who were claiming to win all 21 LS seats in state, he said.
Responding to media queries later, BJP national general secretary and Odisha in-charge Arun Singh said the party will review what went wrong as the results were far below expectations and take corrective measures. The BJP leaders are scheduled to meet in Bhubaneswar on Sunday to chalk out strategy for deferred election in Patkura besides byelection in Bijepur as well as review the party’s performance in the last LS and assembly elections.
Most of the newly-elected BJP MPs and MLAs were present on the occasion at the Exhibition Ground, the same venue where chief minister Naveen Patnaik took oath on returning to power for the fifth term in a row.
Former Union tribal affairs minister and Sundargarh MP Jual Oram was conspicuous by his absence. Besides, Bargarh MP Suresh Pujari was absent for attending Sital Sasthi in his city Sambalpur while Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi could not attend the event for her illness though she welcomed the ministers at the airport, BJP sources said.