Bhubaneswar, (Reporterspen), Aug 5: Prime Minister Narendra Modi met with 21 BJP MPs from Odisha in his Parliament chamber on Monday to discuss regional issues and development plans.
During the meeting, the PM inquired about their number of terms, took introductions, and asked about the budget in their constituencies, according to the new agency ANI. The BJP has 20 Lok Sabha MPs and one Rajya Sabha member from Odisha.
The BJP secured 20 out of 21 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, a significant gain of 12 seats from their 2019 performance. Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw is the lone MP in the Upper House from Odisha, re-elected to the Rajya Sabha with the BJD’s support in February.
The BJP also formed its first government in Odisha with Mohan Majhi as the chief minister, winning 78 of the 147 Assembly seats and ending the 24-year rule of the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD. The regional party failed to secure a single seat in Lok Sabha, and its Assembly tally fell to 51 from 112 seats in 2019.
