Bhubaneswar, June 9: Ahead of the swearing-in ceremony, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday morning paid tributes to Mahatma Gandhi at Rajghat and former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee at his memorial 'Sadaiv Atal'. PM Modi was seen wearing the trademark Kurta Pyjama along with a traditional handwoven Sambalpuri stole of Odisha highlighting a shift of focus towards the eastern state that played a vital role in the emergence of Bharatiya Janata Party as the single largest party.
The Sambalpuri clothes including Sarees and other dress materials are traditional handwoven textile that reflects the artistic traditions, skilled craftsmanship and cultural aesthetics of Odisha. It is pertinent here to mention that the party workers as well as leaders are also buoyed by the emphatic win in Odisha assembly polls that ended the 24-year rule of Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal. The excitement in the party can be gauged from the fact that PM Modi on Friday began his speech at the Central Hall of the Old Parliament with Jay Jagannath chants.
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"When I think about Lord Jagannath, I believe that he is the God of the poor,” he said at the meeting of the newly elected MPs of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. PM Modi, who led the aggressive and successful election campaign against the Biju Janata Dal during the just concluded polls, asserted that Odisha will be the growth engine in the developmental journey of India for the next 25 years. This apart, the "Jai Jagannath '' chant had also replaced “Jai Shree Ram” during PM Modi’s address to party workers at the BJP headquarters in Delhi after results were announced on June 4.
Notably, the BJP swept the Lok Sabha elections in Odisha by registering a win in 20 seats out of the total 21 parliamentary constituencies of the state. The party is also going to form the government in Odisha for the first time since Independence. The party won 78 out of the 147 assembly segments of the state ending the 24-year rule of Naveen Patnaik. Meanwhile, all eyes in Odisha are on the swearing-in ceremony to know how many elected MPs from the state get ministerial berths in the Modi-3.0.
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