Amit Shah begins BJP's mission Odisha with lunch on banana leaf

BJP president Amit Shah on Tuesday sat cross-legged on the floor in a small hut with a tin roof at a local's house, in Gunjam district's Hugulapata village and ate a traditional Odisha meal served on banana leaf. He was hosted for lunch by a local villager.

Shah was accompanied by senior BJP leaders like Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and state party president Basant Panda.

Earlier today, Shah launched the party's grassroots connect drive in Ganjam district, home turf of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. Shah's three-day Odisha visit is aimed at expanding the party's base in the state ahead of the 2019 elections. He is scheduled to visit Jajpur district on Wednesday to attend mass connect programmes. On 6 July, he is slated to attend similar programmes in Khurda district.

He is also slated to meet senior party leaders and hold a discussion on strategies to be adopted to further widen its base in Odisha during his visit, where Assembly elections are due in 2019 together with the Lok Sabha polls.

Shah's visit is part of BJP s strategy to strengthen the party in the state. Buoyed by its impressive performance in the panchayat elections in the state in February this year, BJP gearing up to strengthen the party in Odisha.

OneIndia News (with inputs)