The website https://www.bjdodisha.org.in showcases multiple pillars of 5T-led transformation across sectors like women empowerment, inclusive development, tribal welfare, youth & sports, agriculture, IT. The website also underscores the party’s commitment towards strengthening people’s voices, making them a partner in the state’s progress.

The website features a modern social media wall showcasing the BJD’s efforts to connect with supporters and citizens on digital domains. A separate section is dedicated to citizen welfare, where the party has listed all state government schemes. The schemes are listed beneficiary-wise to help people understand and avail those.

The website reflects the spirit of a “New Odisha and Empowered Odisha” and calls upon the people to get involved in realising the vision of the government.

“Today’s event is also a recognition of how rapidly the work culture has changed in our country over the years. The earlier governments were not interested in completing the projects on time. Whereas our government has ensured rapidly completion of all projects for which foundation is laid. After 2014, the projects which were stuck and lost in the country, have completed as was the case with Paradip Refinery project, which had been pending since 2002,” the PM said.

Highlighting the inauguration and foundation stone laying of mega development projects in the sectors of petroleum, natural gas, atomic energy, roadways, railways and connectivity, the Prime Minister said that it will boost industrial activities in the region and create new employment opportunities.

He also spoke about the 344 km-long product pipeline traversing from Paradip in Odisha to Haldia in West Bengal which was launched on the day. He also mentioned inaugurating the Paradip-Hyderabad Pipeline in Sangareddy, Telangana, on Monday and the 500 km long crude oil pipeline from Haldia to Barauni in Arambagh, West Bengal three days ago.

Major projects are underway for the supply of the natural gas in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha under the Urja Ganaga Yojana, he said.

PM Modi said that Indian Oil Corporation Limited Mono Ethylene Glycol project will revolutionise the polyester industry in eastern India and also help the textile parks in Bhadrak and Paradip get raw materials easily.

In the last 10 years, over 3000 km national highway have been laid while the railway budget has been increased by 12 times. “The central government is focussing on modern connectivity in Odisha so that local resources increase the economy of the state. To improve rail-highway-port connectivity, national highways are being expanded in Jajpur, Bhadrak, Jagatsinghpur, Mayurbhanj, Khurda, Ganjam, Puri and Keonjhar,” he said.

The PM further said that the 5 MLD capacity seawater desalination plant at Odisha Sands Complex of IREL(I) Ltd in Ganjam district will treat almost 50 lakh litres of saline water everyday and make it suitable for drinking.

Besides inaugurating several highway projects, he also flagged off a new train between Puri and Anand Vihar (New Delhi) via Keonjhar station and first passenger train service on Haridaspur–Paradip rail route.

Earlier in his speech, the CM praised for having accelerated India’s economy. “The Prime Minister has given new growth trajectory to the Indian economy, which is going to be the third largest economy. I would request the PM’s cooperation for Odisha’s development.”

He also thanked the PM for launch of various projects for Odisha. “Odisha will soon become a major manufacturing hub of East India. The state has witnessed transformation in infrastructure development. It ranks second in the country in terms of investment,” he said.

Naveen also mentioned the ongoing renovation and beautification of Maa Biraja Temple in Jajpur. “With the blessings of the Lord and the good wishes and cooperation of crores of Jagannath lovers, the Srimandir Parikrama Project and Samlei Project have already been inaugurated,” he said.

“While development has given Odisha a new identity, there is lot more that needs to be done. And therefore, I seek the support of the Prime Minister in the endeavour of 4.5 crore people of Odisha,” he added.

The CM also presented a painting of the Lord and His siblings to the Prime Minister. Both the leaders also remember legendary leader Biju Patnaik on his 108th birth anniversary. Governor Raghubar Das, and Union Ministers Dharmendra Pradhan and Bishweswar Tudu were also present on the occasion.

PROJECTS DEDICATED TO THE NATION

• Bansapani-Daitarl-Tomka-Jakhapura Rail Line (162 km)
• 6-laning of Tangl-Bhubaneswar Section of NH-16 for 56.788 km
• 4-laning of Singhara-Binjhabahal Section of NH-49 for 104.176 km
• 4-laning of Balasore-Jharpokharia Section of NH-18 for 81.26 km
• 4-laning of Binjabahal-Teleibani Section of NH-49 for 78.318 km
• Khurda Road-Barang 3rd Rail Line (32.34 KM)
• 5 Million Litres per day capacity seawater desalination plant at Ganjam

INAUGURATED

• IOCL’s mono ethylene glycol project in Paradip Refinery
• Indian Oil’s Paradip-Somnathpur-Haldia Product Pipeline
• 0.6 MMTPA LPG import facility at Paradip
• CONCOR container depot in Kalinga Nagar

FOUNDATION STONES LAID:

• 8-laning of Chandikhol-Paradip Section of NH-53 for 77 km
• Electric Loco Periodical Overhauling Workshop at Norla
• 4L+PS/2L+PS from km 0.000 to 35.800 of (Kuakhla-Mangalpur Section) of NH 20
• Wagon Periodical Overhaullng Workshop at Kantabanjl
• Wagon maintenance facilities at Baghuapal

FLAGGED OFF:

• New train between Puri-Anand Vihar terminal from Keonjhar railway station
• New train between Paradip- Keonjhar from Paradip staion
• Container train from MMLP Jajpur to ICD Dadri, Uttar Pradesh

Speaking on the occasion, BJP’s Odisha unit president Manmohan Samal said that the party will collect opinions and suggestions from one crore people in the state for preparing its manifesto for the Lok Sabha and Assembly elections.

Two vehicles will travel through every constituency to collect suggestions from the people for inclusion in the party manifesto during the campaign aimed at achieving ‘viksit Odisha, viksit Bharat’ through ‘Modi Guarantee,’ he said.

People can also give their suggestions on NaMoApp so that the party would be able to incorporate in its agenda. Suggestions for the manifesto would also be sought through BJP’s different social media platforms.

Claiming that the BJP-led Central government has fulfilled 222 out of the 235 promises made during 2019 elections, Samal said Odisha has abundant natural resources and mineral wealth to be able to achieve speedy development.

The party will also highlight the achievements of the Narendra Modi government in the last decade during the campaign, apart from seeking suggestions from the people, the BJP leader said.

Stating that BJP will fulfil the dreams and aspirations of people in the next five years, Samal said the party would focus on working for the development of farmers, women, youths and the weaker sections of society.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will once again contest from Varanasi, from where he won in 2014 and 2019. The list, which includes 34 Union ministers and two former chief ministers, features Union Home Minister Amit Shah from Gujarat’s Gandhinagar.

Two other Union ministers will contest in Kerala — Rajeev Chandrasekhar from Thiruvananthapuram and V Muraleedharan from Attingal.

An interesting choice is that of the late Sushma Swaraj’s daughter Basuri Swaraj from New Delhi, replacing Union minister Meenakshi Lekhi. Former Madhya Pradesh CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan will be BJP’s candidate from Vidisha constituency, while ex-Tripura CM Biplab Kumar Deb will seek to be elected from Tripura West.

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will contest from Kota in Rajasthan. Two other prominent candidates from Rajasthan are Union ministers Bhupender Yadav (Alwar) and Gajendra Shekhawat (Jodhpur). There are 28 women candidates, 47 youth, 27 from Scheduled Caste, 18 from Scheduled Tribes and 57 OBC candidates in BJP’s first list.

Addressing a press meet in Bhubaneswar, BJD’s national spokesperson Sasmit Patra alleged that some leaders of BJP in Odisha are spreading rumours about alliance between the two parties through media.

“We are unable to understand as to why they (BJP leaders) are spreading such rumour,” he said.

Claiming that the ruling BJD is in a very strong position for the upcoming electoral battle, Patra firmly ruled out any possible of alliance with BJP for the simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in the state.

Regarding some leaders quitting BJD and joining BJP, he said the saffron party is welcoming the leaders who have either been expelled from the ruling party for anti-people activities or who have no chance of getting tickets for the upcoming polls.

As BJP in Odisha is facing dearth of candidates, it is welcoming leaders who are quitting BJD and other parties where they have no future, Patra claimed.

Patra further claimed that BJD is poised to register a landslide victory in the upcoming elections and win more than 120 Assembly and over 17 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

According to sources, the campaign will continue across the state till the birth anniversary of legendary leader and former Chief Minister Biju Patnaik on March 5. BJD leaders and workers will visit every family and interact with the people during the programme.

As part of the campaign, the ruling party will focus on each and every family across the state and highlight the achievements of the Naveen Patnaik government.

While reaching out to the people and interacting with them about various welfare measures of the BJD government, party leaders and workers will also learn about the problems of the people. The aim is to reach out to the voters across the state in the run up to the upcoming elections.

The programme will enable the ruling party to make a fresh assessment of its strength, apart from getting feedback from the people from different parts of the state. This will inspire the party workers at the grassroots level across the state and further strengthen the organisation ahead of the Lok Sabha and state Assembly elections, which are approaching fast, said a senior leader.

It was earlier proposed to launch the programme on the foundation day of the party and leaders have already been given responsibility of undertaking the drive. Local issues would be given adequate attention during the programme.

Two days after a mob attacked an Enforcement Directorate (ED) team which was on way to Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Shahjahan Sheikh’s residence in North 24 Parganas’ Sandeshkhali, a TMC leader was shot dead on Sunday.

Satyen Chowdhury, Chowdhury, TMC’s general secretary for Murshidabad district, was gunned down by unidentified assailants in Baharampur.

Chowdhury was rushed to a hospital but declared dead on arrival.

According to officials and eyewitnesses, a group of individuals arrived on bikes and opened fire on Chowdhury from close range.

Police have launched an investigation into the murder, the motive of which is yet to be ascertained

Chowdhury was once close to Murshidabad’s heavyweight Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, but later joining ruling TMC.

The All India Congress Committee (AICC) has also asked the state leadership to start the process of discussion and complete it early as elections are around the corner, TNIE reported.

Though Congress is not in a mood to leave more than 15 of the 147 Assembly seats to the INDIA constituents, the party on its own appears to be lacking winning candidates in more than half of the Assembly seats. The Left parties are also not strong enough in the state electorally to field candidates in more than five seats. The JMM’s base is limited to Mayurbhanj where it can field candidates with some prospects of winning, the report said.

As far as seat adjustment for the Lok Sabha elections is concerned, Congress is ready to leave three seats – Bhubaneswar, Aska and Mayurbhanj – for the allies. The number may reduce, but there is no chance of sparing more seats for the partners, sources said. There are 21 Lok Sabha seats in Odisha.

According to OPCC president Sarat Pattanayak, Congress will consider proposals of INDIA constituents after the seat-sharing talks start. The party will assess the feasibility of leaving the indicated seats to allies and on that basis, the talks will proceed. At present, the state unit is busy with new AICC state in-charge.

Meetings of state executive, political affairs committees and other committees have been convened on Saturday and Sunday.

Senior CP( (M )leader Janardan Pati said the party had won Bonai Assembly seat in Sundargarh district in 2019 elections and this time it is likely to contest from seven to eight seats.

The state had 3,26,55,213 voters till October last year. While 12,97,954 names were added, 7,16,807 were deleted and 4,22,638 modified, he added.

According to the final electoral rolls, the state witnessed a substantial rise in women voters from 1.60 crore till October 27, 2023, to 1.63 crore while the gender ratio improved to 972 as against 961 in 2023. It has put the number of male voters at 1.68 crore and transgenders at 3,380.

A total of 4,70,798 more young voters have also registered. In November, 2023, the CEO had started a campaign to grab the eyeballs of youths and cricket loving netizens by using catchy taglines like ‘Just like every run counts, Every vote matters’ with hashtag of ICC Men’s World Cup while asking them not to lose the last opportunity to get themselves registered as a voter and cast your vote in the upcoming general elections.

Of the total electors, 7.54 lakh (2.27%) are young voters, 4.57 lakh (1.38%) persons with disabilities and 6.85 lakh (2.06%) senior citizens.

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This came amid speculation about his role in the ruling party, which he joined last month after taking voluntary retirement from service in October.

“Pandian today cleared his stand on fighting the upcoming elections. He himself announced that he would not contest the 2024 elections. But as a dedicated worker, he will continue to strengthen the party,” Mishra said, adding that there should be no problem if he decides to contest the polls, but people should refrain from spreading rumours.

Former Balasore MP Rabindra Kumar Jena said Pandian will work for the BJD in all 147 Assembly constituencies in the state. “The former bureaucrat will work towards strengthening the BJD under the leadership of our party president Naveen Patnaik,” he said.

BJD MLA Sandip Routray told reporters that Pandian informed the meeting that he would continue to work for the party and unite it further. “Since Odisha has gained a reputation of well-governed state, he will work to increase the popularity of the party,” he added.