Strategic move in Odisha: BJP fields Odisha’s ex-head of CRPF Prakash Mishra from Cuttack

Bhubaneshwar, Mar 25: Elections are a playground where every party strategically plays every move and each and every move reflects in the elections. On Monday, BJP announced the candidature of Odisha’s former director general of police Prakash Mishra from Cuttack parliamentary constituency.

He admired the Centre’s response to the Pulwama terror attack that killed 40 troopers of the central police force.

“All the countries are praising India the way we responded to the terror attack on CRPF at Pulwama. Whenever there was an attack on security, PM Modi would speak to us directly. Instead of supporting such an inspiring leader, if we follow a discredited government in Odisha, then we will have no future,” he said shortly after joining the party.

Regarding Odisha, Mishra said "Governance in the state has touched a new low. It is time to build a new Odisha by changing the government."

Cuttack will cast the vote in the third phase on April 23. Odisha has 21 Lok Sabha seats. The BJD had swept the 2014 elections winning 20 of the seats while the BJP won only one.

The BJP also fielded former MP Mahameghabaham Aira Kharbela Swain from Kandhamal parliamentary seat. With its eighth list on Monday, the BJP has declared candidates for 309 parliamentary seats, including support to one independent candidate in Mandya seat of Karnataka.

The BJP and the Congress had lashed out at the BJD government accusing it of harassing an honest police officer by slapping a fabricated case against him.