JP Nadda, Rahul Gandhi Set to Galvanize Party Campaigns in Odisha Today

Bhubaneswar: National president of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), J P Nadda, and senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi are set to bolster their parties’ campaign efforts in Odisha today ahead of the upcoming twin elections in the state.

Nadda will land at Biju Patnaik International Airport at 4:30 pm, proceeding directly to Rangeilunda airstrip by helicopter. There, he will address a public meeting at Ambapua near Berhampur town in Ganjam district. Following this, he will engage in an “exhaustive interaction” with party workers from the Berhampur, Koraput, and Nabarangpur Lok Sabha constituencies, slated for the first-round polls on May 13.

Notably, the Berhampur LS seat presents an intriguing contest between two defectors, with BJP nominating Gopalpur MLA Pradeep Panigrahi, a former BJD leader, and BJD fielding Bhrugu Baxipatra, who received the ticket after recently switching sides. For the Koraput and Nabarangpur seats, BJP has selected Kaliram Majhi and Balabhadra Majhi respectively.

Nadda’s visit follows Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s recent election rally in Sonepur and crucial meetings with state leaders of 13 parliamentary constituencies.

Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi will launch his campaign from Salepur in coastal Cuttack district. Scheduled to arrive at Bhubaneswar airport at 11:40 am, he will then proceed to Satyabhamapur to pay homage to Madhusudan Das, a key figure in Odisha’s modern history, on his 176th birth anniversary. Gandhi will later address the ‘Nyaya Samavesh’ at Kulia in Salepur, with leaders and workers from Cuttack, Kendrapada, Bhadrak, and Jagatsinghpur attending the rally.