Biplab meets Odisha BJP leaders

Bhubaneswar: Former Tripura chief minister Biplab Kumar Deb held a closed-door meeting with Odisha BJP leaders here on Saturday and discussed strategies to increase the vote share of the saffron camp in the upcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in the eastern State, party sources said.

The discussion was held two days after Union Home Minister Amit Shah, during a meeting with party leaders, had reportedly mentioned that the BJP’s vote share soared from 2-3 per cent in Tripura and it managed to come to power there.

Sources said Deb was invited by the Odisha BJP to sharpen its strategies before the polls and guide it to achieve the goal. Deb, the Rajya Sabha member, is expected to stay in Odisha for a month till the end of the elections in the State, they said.

Shah had also said that the BJP’s vote share in Odisha in the 2019 Assembly elections was 32 per cent and 38 per cent in the Lok Sabha polls. ‘’Therefore, an increase in BJP’s vote share is possible and the party can form the government in the State,’’ Shah said in the meeting.

The Odisha BJP is also contemplating consulting Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma while making its strategies for the elections, a senior party leader said. Assam was another State where the BJP improved its vote share and formed the government.

“If required, we will consult chief ministers of other BJP-ruled States and strategists to achieve the goal in Odisha,” the party leader said.

Meanwhile, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, one of the BJP’s star campaigners, is scheduled to participate in a roadshow for party nominee Pradip Purohit from the Bargarh Lok Sabha constituency. Sai will join the roadshow in the Jharsuguda Assembly segment.