The swearing-in ceremony of the first-ever Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Odisha will be held on June 10 in Bhubaneswar’s Janata Maidan. The swearing-in ceremony will be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah, along with chief ministers of several National Democratic Alliance (NDA)-ruled states who campaigned for the party in the election. It was announced during the election campaign that if BJP forms the government in the state, it would be sworn in on June 10.
The BJP won 78 seats in the Odisha Assembly elections, while two rebels of the party who contested as independents and won have decided to join the party, raising the strength to 80 in the 147-member Odisha Assembly. The BJP won a little over 40 per cent of the total votes, a rise of nearly eight per cent from what it had secured in 2019.
The BJP leaders said the central leadership would send its top leaders to Odisha to speak to the MLAs to decide the next chief minister.
Several names that are being considered for the CM’s post include former Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan, party’s national vice-president Baijayant Panda, senior leader Suresh Pujari, Puri MP Sambit Patra, former union tribal affairs minister Jual Oram and former chief whip Mohan Majhi. Pradhan won from Odisha’s Sambalpur Lok Sabha seat, where he was contesting against Biju Janata Dal’s (BJD) organisational secretary Pranab Prakash Das. He received 5,92,162 votes, winning with a margin of 1,19,836 votes.
Party officials said that in the first cabinet meeting of the BJP government, the opening of all four doors of Jagannath temple in Puri, the tabling of the Raghubir Das judicial commission of inquiry report into the disappearance of keys of Ratna Bhandar, the announcement of minimum support price Rs.3,100 per quintal for purchase of paddy is likely to be announced. BJP had made these promises in its manifesto.
The BJP had released its manifesto for the assembly elections in Odisha, promising 3.5 lakh jobs in five years, cash voucher of Rs 50,000 for women, returning the money people lost by investing in chit fund companies, and procurement of paddy at Rs 3,100 per quintal.
The manifesto, titled ‘Modi Ka Guarantee for Odisha 2024’, was released by BJP president JP Nadda for the four-phase elections to Odisha’s 147-member assembly, which was held simultaneously with polls for the state’s 21 Lok Sabha seats, starting on May 13.
If voted to power, the BJP said it will launch ‘Subhadra Yojana’ under which every woman will receive a cash voucher of Rs 50,000 which can be encashed over two years. It will aim to create 25 lakh ‘Lakhpati Didis’ in Odisha by 2027. For this, it will create industrial clusters for every 500 self-help groups, wherein we will provide facility management for product marketing and promotion. The BJP promised to build ‘Odia Samudaya Bhawan’ in all metro cities of the country for the welfare of Odia people living outside the state.
The party promised an annual lean period allowance of Rs 10,000 to every fisherman, construction of 75,000 km of roads in the state, Rs 5,000 scholarship per year to tribal students, and Rs 3,000 monthly pension for all senior citizens, physically disabled persons, widows and destitute. It promised that it would return the money people lost by investing in chit-fund companies within 18 months, and implement the Ayushman Bharat scheme within 100 days.
The BJP also promised medical, engineering and law courses in Odia, and set up IT parks at Bhubaneswar, Rourkela, Berhampur and Balasore, besides textile parks in western Odisha.
If voted to power, the BJP said it would expand the capacity of government hospitals by 36,000 beds, modernise ICUs, dialysis units and operations theaters, and establish nursing colleges, medical colleges and super speciality hospitals in every district.
Ahead of the seven-phased Lok Sabha polls beginning on April 19, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) unveiled its long-awaited manifesto titled ‘Modi ki guarantee’ Sankalp Patra. The manifesto outlines a roadmap to transform India into a developed country by 2047, including a pledge to introduce a ‘one nation, one election’ system and a common electoral roll. The document also features a range of measures aimed at empowering youth, women, farmers, and the underprivileged.
At the manifesto launch at the BJP headquarters in the national capital, Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasised that the aspirations of India’s 1.4 billion people are central to his mission. He pledged that the BJP would swiftly begin implementing its manifesto promises upon the announcement of election results on June 4. Modi also highlighted that the party’s primary focus would be on enhancing the nation’s social, physical, and digital infrastructure.
The entire country anticipates the BJP’s ‘Sankalp Patra’. There is a significant reason behind it as in the last decade, the BJP has implemented every point of its manifesto as a guarantee on the ground. This ‘Sankalp Patra’ empowers all four strong pillars of a developed India: youth, women, the poor, and farmers.
Modi has pledged to extend the reach of bullet trains across India, announcing plans for new projects in the North, South, and East, in addition to the ongoing Mumbai-Ahmedabad project. He also revealed ambitions for India to bid to host the Olympics in 2036.
Under the BJP’s vision, the Vande Bharat train network will be expanded nationwide, with three distinct models – Vande Bharat Sleeper, Vande Bharat Chaircar, and Vande Bharat Metro – serving various regions. Highlighting progress, Modi said, “one bullet train will run in North India, one in South India, and one in Eastern India. Survey work for this will also be started soon.”
The BJP also aims to implement a Uniform Civil Code (UCC), envisioned as a comprehensive set of laws that would apply uniformly to all citizens, regardless of their religion, sex, gender, or caste.
Since, Odisha has gifted its 20 out of 21 Lok Sabha seats and going to form double engine government at Delhi and Bhubaneswar, Odisha expects double march ahead.
