Narendra Modi to visit Odisha

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi will visit Odisha on July 16, his first to the state after being elevated as the campaign committee chairman of the Bharatiya Janata Party.

“Modiji is scheduled to come on a day’s visit to Odisha. His only programme is to visit the Puri Jagannath temple and seek the Lord’s blessings,” state BJP president K V Singhdeo said on Wednesday.

Modi is scheduled to arrive at Bhubaneswar on 9 am and he will be given a grand reception at the city airport. He will directly proceed to Puri to seek blessings of Lord Jagannath.

The State unit of the BJP will give a rousing reception to Gujarat Chief Minister and chairman of the party’s national campaign committee Narendra Modi during his one-day visit to the State on July 16.

While the state unit had expected that the Gujarat strongman would plan a trip in September-October, Modi decided to come for ‘darshan’ of Lord Jagannath during Rath Yatra apparently to strike a religious chord with the people of Odisha. July 16 has seemingly been chosen because it happens to be ‘Sankranti’, considered an auspicious day by Hindus.

“Like every year, he would perform “chhera pahanra” (sweeping of the Lord’s chariots) in Ahmedabad on July 10. He would visit Puri before Bahuda Yatra (the return car festival) and go to the Gundicha temple (where the sibling deities would reside during the nine-day festival) as well as the Jagannath temple. If possible, he would also meet the Gajapati Maharaja of Puri.

Though party leaders want to make the visit appear as a ‘non-political event’, Modi’s trip is bound to assume political significance as it could set the poll ball rolling for the BJP in Odisha.