Stage set for Modi’s visit to Odisha

Odisha Channel Bureau BALESWAR: The stage is set for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to this coastal Odisha town where he will address a well-organised public meeting on Thursday morning.This is Modi’s third visit of Modi to Odisha this year and fourth after he became Prime Minister in 2014.The Prime Minister is scheduled to address a public meeting marking completion of the NDA government’s two years in office.Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram and Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan are already camping in Baleswar (Balasore) along with several senior BJP leaders to oversee the preparations for the rally.The helipad and the meeting ground will be a single place at the proposed site of AIIMS satellite centre in the town.Adequate security arrangements have been made to make the rally trouble-free.As many as 10 IPS officers have been posted in Baleswar town to ensure that the rally passes off peacefully.Although there was a spell of rain during the morning hours, the BJP leaders are hopeful that more people would join the rally tomorrow as the rain had given them a respite from the summer heat.Meanwhile, Oram inaugurated a DAVP photo exhibition titled “Mera Desh Badal Raha Hai, Aage Badh Raha Hai”, in connection with the completion of two years of the Modi Government.Pradhan was also present at the inaugural function.The exhibition being held at the Baleswar Railway Station Campus will remain open till June 5 between 10 am and 8 pm.Modi’s latest visit is significant as the BJP is concentrating in Odisha where the party holds the third position followed by the ruling BJD and opposition Congress.Modi had earlier addressed a farmers’ rally at Bargarh on February 21.Prior to that, he came to inaugurate the oil refinery project of Indian Oil Corporation Limited at Paradip on February 7.He had come to Odisha as Prime Minister for the first time to dedicate the modernised and expanded units of Rourkela Steel Plant to the nation on April 1, 2015.