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With only three days left for the first phase of polls in the state scheduled on April 10, political parties have intensified campaigning in western and south Odisha, defying intense heat wave and Naxal threat.
The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) chief Naveen Patnaik held five back-to-back rallies in Jharsuguda and Bolangir today, appealing to voters to support local BJD candidates, to carry on the developmental works in the region.
"You are aware that Odisha is ahead of many states on several developmental parameters. Be it providing land titles to tribals, women empowerment or food for poor, our state is ahead of others. I seek your support to carry forward these activities in the future," Patnaik said speaking at an election rally in Bolangir today.
The Chief Minister also criticised Congress-run Central government in his speech. "The Congress led government at the Centre wanted to close the KBK scheme (Koraput-Bongair-Kalahandi), ignoring the plight of many Odias. We then came up with the Biju KBK plan to support you," he said.
Many BJD star campaigners today participated in rallies seeking support for the first phase polls. The party MP from Berhampur Sidhant Mohapatra today campaigned in his constituency while newcomer and Odia film actor Anubhav Mohanty sought support for party candidates in western Odisha.
The Opposition Congress, which is struggling hard to push its tally in the state assembly amid infighting and threats from rebel candidates, also left no stone unturned to increase public participation ahead of the first phase polls on Wednesday. Pradesh Congress chief Jayadev Jena today campaigned at Jharsuguda with two Bollywood cine stars Aditya Pancholi and Priti Jhangiani.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which has regained its strength after frequent rallies of its Prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi in the region, also campaigned at many places while party state unit head Kanak Vardhan Singhdeo chose to campaign in his home constituency Patnagarh.
The BJP also ran 3D projection speeches of Modi at 10 places in the state, which were beamed from Gandhinagar studio via satellites.The parties also focused on coastal Odisha to reach out to maximum people for convincing them. Both BJD and BJP held road shows today in Bhubaneswar.
