PM Modi to arrive in Bhubaneswar on May 19, roadshow in Puri on May 20

Bhubaneswar: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will embark on a two-day visit to Odisha from May 19 and kick-start BJP’s electioneering in the state for the third-round elections from Puri.

“He will arrive in Bhubaneswar at 7 pm and hold an hour-long review meeting with party workers at the state BJP office. The following morning he will visit Puri to seek the blessings of Lord Jagannath before holding a roadshow there,” state BJP chief Manmohan Samal told the media on Friday

The PM will then travel to Angul and later attend an election rally in Cuttack, he added.

BJP MP candidate for Puri Sambit Patra had earlier informed that Modi decided to hold a roadshow in the pilgrim town as he has special affection for the people of Puri. “He will reach Puri around 7 am and visit Jagananth Temple to offer prayers to the sibling deities in the 12th century shrine. He will embark on his roadshow thereafter,” he said.

Voting in six Lok Sabha seats including Puri and Cuttack will be held on May 25.

This will be the PM third visit to Odisha within a span of two weeks. Modi had on May 10 held a 2.5-km roadshow in Bhubaneswar. He also addressed three ‘Vijay Sankalp Yatra’ rallies in Kandhamal, Balangir and Bargarh on May 11.

His first two ‘Vijay Sankalp Yatra’ rallies in Berhampur and Nabarangpur on May 6, where he set the government formation narrative by announcing June 10 as the date for swearing in of a BJP CM in Bhubaneswar, is said to have enthused the party rank and file.