(HT)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP chief Amit Shah and more than 300 senior party leaders are in Odisha’s capital Bhubaneshwar for a two-day national executive meeting to firm up “Mission 2019”, the party’s plan for the next Lok Sabha election.
The choice of place is telling. The BJP finished second in the just concluded panchayat polls in Odisha, posing a serious challenge to the ruling Biju Janata Dal and pushing the Congress to a distant third.
Odisha chooses a new assembly in 2019, the same time as the national election. For the BJP, it is yet another unconquered territory ripe for taking. The Prime Minister will address the gathering on Sunday, the concluding day of the meeting, and what he says will be closely watched, not just by the party but rivals as well.
