BJP plans show of strength in Bargarh

Bhubaneswar: Buoyed by the massive turnout of people for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Paradip meeting on Sunday, BJP plans to put up another show of strength during the party's farmers' rally to be addressed by Modi at Bargarh on February 21.
Addressing a press conference here, state BJP president Basanta Panda said, "The massive congregation of people during inauguration of Paradip refinery by the Prime Minster is a testimony to his ever rising popularity.Though thousands came on their own because of Modi's charisma," he said.
Panda said since the Bargarh rally would be entirely a BJP affair, the party expects a far bigger turnout. "We expect around two lakh people would gather at the George High School field where the Prime Minister will speak," he said. Senior BJP leaders are scheduled to hold a preparatory meeting at Bargarh on Tuesday. There is great enthusiasm among the party cadres and workers because he is coming to the state for the second time in the same month, Panda said.
"If the party could manage to gather crowd of around one lakh people in Paradip, a BJD den, mobilizing far more people would not be difficult in western part of the state where the party has many workers at the grassroots level," BJP insiders feel.
Around 30 farmers committed suicide in Bargarh in the last kharif season. As many as 200 farmers killed themselves in the state. The Prime Minister is likely to interact with family members of some farmers who ended their life due to debt burden and crop loss. He would also meet some successful farmers in the rice bowl, who have shown innovation, apart from addressing the farmers' rally, Kisan Sammelan. It would be the second such rally by Modi in a series of four, the first being at Sherpura in Sehore district of Madhya Pradesh on February 18.
BJP sees western Odisha as a potential battleground where it can significantly improve its electoral fortunes because it had done better in this region in 2014 compared to the coastal part.
Most of its 10 MLAs are from this part of the state. It would be Modi's third visit after he dedicated the expansion project of Rourkela Steel Plant in April last year and IOCL's Paradip oil refinery on Sunday.