Dharmendra Pradhan, Arjun Munda, Nityananda Rai, Ashwini Choubey, Bhupendra Yadav, Bisheswar Tudu, and Nisith Paramanik are the seven Union ministers who will travel to the state.
Considering that the BJP central leadership has designated Odisha as its focus state for the 2024 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, up to seven Union Ministers could make two days of trips to the state starting on Friday, according to party sources.
Dharmendra Pradhan, Arjun Munda, Nityananda Rai, Ashwini Choubey, Bhupendra Yadav, Bisheswar Tudu, and Nisith Paramanik are the seven Union ministers who will travel to the state.
Both Pradhan and Tudu are Odia natives.
Choubey and Tudu are expected to arrive tonight, while Pradhan, Munda, and Rai have already arrived in the state. According to the reports, Yadav and Paramanik will arrive here on Saturday.
Along with the Union ministers, the BJP’s national vice-president and spokesperson Sambit Patra travelled to the state to support the Central ministers and attend several meetings with saffron leaders.
Following this week’s visit by Sunil Bansal, the newly appointed BJP representative for Odisha, and Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s trip in August, more than a dozen Union Ministers paid a visit to the state.
Shah had stated during his visit that Odisha was on the BJP’s focus list and that the saffron party will win the state’s assembly election in 2024.
According to party insiders, the seven union ministers will travel to at least 12 Lok Sabha districts in Odisha where the BJP had a poor reputation. The BJP candidates in Odisha won 8 of the state’s 21 Lok Sabha seats in the 2019 elections, although they lost 13 other seats.
According to BJP state spokesperson Rajendra Panda, “Our ministers will visit such districts, meet with the party members, and provide them with advice on how to do better in the 2024 elections.”
Arjun Munda, the minister of tribal affairs, left for the Jajpur district after arriving here, and Nityananda Rai, the minister of state for the interior, will travel to Cuttack, according to the schedule.
Regarding the district’s implementation of the central plans, Munda is expected to meet with the district administration. Bhupendra Yadav, the Union Minister for the Environment, had originally planned to arrive here on Friday evening, but he has changed his schedule and will now arrive on Saturday.
Ashwini Kumar Choubey, the minister of state for consumer affairs, food, and public distribution, as well as Bishweswar Tudu, the minister of jal shakti and tribal affairs, will arrive shortly, according to Panda.
Nityanand Rai stated upon his arrival at the airport here, “BJP leaders including union ministers travel different regions of the country keeping in mind both the organisational interest as well as official job.”
Union ministers will attend official reviews during their visit, according to Lekhashree Samantsinghar, the BJP’s state general secretary, who also indicated they will interact with party members.
However, senior Congressman and MLA Suresh Routray claimed that the arrival of BJP and Union Ministers suggested that the general elections would take place in 2023 rather than 2024 as originally planned.
If Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik continues to back Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJD would also suffer the same fate, Routray predicted. “The BJP is doing its best to be the number one party in Odisha. However, price hike will sink them. Congress is coming,” Routray added.
Prasanta Patnaik 
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