“Union Home Minister Amit Shah Kicks Off BJP’s Odisha Campaign with Sonepur Rally”

The Union Home Minister, Amit Shah, is scheduled to visit Odisha on Thursday to start the BJP’s election campaign in the state. He will address a public meeting at Sonepur in western Odisha, within the Bolangir Lok Sabha constituency. According to Manmohan Samal, BJP state president, Shah will arrive at Veer Surendra Sai Airport in Jharsuguda from Hyderabad around 3.45 pm and travel to Sonepur in a helicopter. Party sources have confirmed that the home minister will address a rally at Rameswaram Stadium at 4.35 pm. BJP state vice-president, Golak Mohapatra, has assured that all arrangements are in place for the home minister’s public meeting. Shah will start campaigning from western Odisha, as the BJP performed well in the region in the 2019 general elections. In 2019, the BJP had won all five Parliamentary constituencies – Sambalpur, Bargah, Bolangir, Kalahandi, and Sundergarh – in west Odisha. It is interesting to note that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will also contest from the Kantabanji assembly segment within the Bolangir parliamentary constituency. After the public meeting at Sonepur, the home minister will travel to Bhubaneswar via Jharsuguda and stay the night in the state capital. Samal has also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, and BJP president J.P. Nadda are also likely to visit the state to campaign for party candidates. Simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly elections will be held in phases in Odisha from May 13.