Bhubaneswar: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Amit Shah on Wednesday slammed Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik over poverty and backwardness in the state, asserting that the Centre had contributed generously for its development.
On the last day of his three-visit tour to the eastern state, Shah toured the Basantpur village of the Ekamra Assembly constituency where he was given a traditional welcome.
Odisha is a priority state in the BJP chief's roadmap for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
A statement said he went to many homes, where he met people from different social and economic strata, and urged them to support the BJP.
Accompanied by Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan, state party chief Basant Banda and party general secretary Arun Singh, who is also the BJP's state in-charge, Shah put up party stickers as part of his campaign to strengthen the BJP.
Odisha is the 14th state where the BJP chief has toured as part of a 115-day programme across the country to strengthen the organisation.
He will be visiting Gujarat from July 10 to July 12.
