Inside the auditorium for the party's national executive meet, Yogi Adityanath only BJP CM to find a spot on posters
The streets of this city — designed by German architect and urban planner Otto Koenigsberger — wear a saffron hue, brimming with BJP cutouts and posters, out of most of which Prime Minister Narendra Modi visage looks right back at you.
Inside Janata Maidan where the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) national executive meet is scheduled to start today, is a poster of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath flanked by the PM and BJP president Amit Shah.
Besides Modi, Shah, former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and senior leader LK Advani, Adityanath is the only leader to be featured in the posters inside the auditorium.
Outside, however, he is just one among the 13 BJP chief ministers, union ministers, and local leaders who adorn the posters.
The BJP is wooing the state with a heady mix of Odisha's history, tradition and the Prime Minister's engagement with it, as it lays out its Modi-centred strategy to capture the state in the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in 2019.
The image of a man on a horse — Bakshi Jagabandhu who led the 1817 Paika rebellion against the British — and Dalit saint and poet philosopher Bhima Bhoi are among the local idols who figure among posters. The party has named the venue after Bhoi, who is known for his commitment to social justice and work among the Dalits, tribals and poor, petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan said here at a press conference.
"Odisha is a laboratory for the PM's pro-poor schemes... Modi's credibility is the highest in Odisha. By 2019, BJP will be a natural ruling party," he said.
With posters in Oriya listing the Modi government's welfare schemes, the BJP is projecting itself as the party that will quench the aspirational thirst of the people. "We will pursue twin policies of fulfilling aspirations of the people through government and creating strong political organisation," Pradhan said.
Party sources said Modi's reception on Saturday afternoon will be a grand affair.
Party national president Shah landed here on Friday afternoon and celebrated the Odia new year at the party office, where he was garlanded with 74 lotuses.
What bhubaneswar looks like
Former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and senior leader LK Advani are also featured in posters.
There are posters of 13 BJP chief ministers, union ministers, and local leaders outside the venue.
The BJP is wooing the state with a heady mix of Odisha's history, tradition and the PM connection.
The party has named the venue after Bhoj, who is known for his commitment to social justice among the Dalits, tribals and poor.
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