Shah to arrive for 2-day visit on May 10

Bhubaneswar: Union home minister Amit Shah is scheduled to visit Odisha for two days starting May 10, marking his first major public appearance in the state since BJP formed the govt last year, dislodging the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD.
State BJP president Manmohan Samal announced that Shah's tentative itinerary includes offering prayers at the Jagannath Temple in Puri and Samaleswari Temple in Sambalpur. The home minister will also lay the foundation stone for a National Forensic Science University campus at Jatni near Bhubaneswar.
The visit features two strategically planned public rallies — one at PHD Ground in western Odisha's Sambalpur and another at Janata Maidan in Bhubaneswar on the east coast — demonstrating BJP's commitment to balanced regional outreach. Both meetings will include inauguration and foundation stone-laying ceremonies for various development projects.
Shah will arrive in Bhubaneswar from Jharkhand on May 10, lay the foundation of the forensic university at Jatni, and proceed to Puri for an overnight stay, where he is expected to meet key state BJP members to assess the political situation ahead of the govt's first anniversary in office on June 12. On May 11, he will travel to Sambalpur before returning to Bhubaneswar again for the public meeting.
This high-profile visit comes at a crucial juncture when the state BJP unit awaits the appointment of a new chief. Political observers noted that Shah's previous visit in Nov last year was strictly official, limited to the DGP/IGP conference, without any party engagements.
The renewed political engagement signals BJP's intent to consolidate its position in Odisha, where the party has been working to expand its footprint ahead of upcoming electoral battles. Though BJP won the 2024 assembly election with a clear majority, its vote share (40.07%) was marginally less compared to BJD's 40.22%.
Shah's visit is expected to energise the state unit and set the tone for the BJP's future political strategy in Odisha, where it aims to strengthen its presence across all regions. Earlier attempts to schedule Shah's visit to Odisha in March did not materialise.