PM Modi to visit Odisha, address first public meeting in state in 5 yrs

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will arrive in Odisha on Saturday afternoon to unveil projects worth Rs 68,400 crore, including the new campus of IIM-Sambalpur, officials said.

During the visit, Modi will address a public meeting, his first in the state in nearly five years.

The prime minister will reach the Jharsuguda airport around 1 pm, and head to the IIM-Sambalpur campus where CM Naveen Patnaik, Governor Raghubar Das and Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan will join him, they said.

Besides the Rs 400-crore campus, Modi will also unveil infrastructure projects worth Rs 68,000 crore. These projects span sectors such as power, roads and railways.

Modi will address a public meeting at Remed Ground around 3 pm, before leaving for Guwahati, officials said.

He had addressed the last public meeting in the state in April 2019 in Kendrapara in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls and assembly elections in the state, which were held simultaneously. The prime minister visited the state thrice since then but did not address a rally.

The PM visited the state when cyclone Fani hit the state just after the 2019 elections. He came here again after cyclone Amphan in 2020, and then in June last year following the triple train crash in Balasore.

"PM Modi's Sambalpur visit is politically important. We are elated that he will address a public meeting after a long gap in the state," said state BJP president Manmohan Samal.

The PM's visit to the state comes amid the Congress upping its ante, claiming that the ruling BJD and opposition BJP were working together.

Earlier this week, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge addressed a mega rally in Bhubaneswar, while next week, the Rahul Gandhi-led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra is scheduled to enter the state.