Dharmendra Pradhan confident of BJP winning 120 seats in Odisha, says confidence in Narendra Modi is rising

Bhubaneswar: Ahead of BJP president Amit Shah’s three-day visit to Odisha from Wednesday, Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday voiced confidence that the party would achieve the goal of winning 120 of the 147 assembly seats in the state. “He (Amit Shah) has entrusted the job of achieving this goal through hard work to lakhs of party workers in 36,000 booths across Odisha. The target would certainly be met,” Pradhan said while responding to queries about the ‘Mission-120’ target set by Shah. [caption id=“attachment_1648823” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Dharmendra Pradhan. PIB[/caption] The Petroleum Minister said the BJP president has set the target of party’s victory in 120 assembly seats in 2019 polls, after a thorough assessment of the political situation during his visit to the state in July this year. Pradhan was on a visit to Odisha, the first to the state after he was elevated to the rank of Cabinet Minister in the ministry reshuffle effected by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday. Besides petroleum, he has been given additional charge of the skill development ministry. Stating that the confidence and faith of the people in the leadership of Modi is growing across the country, the BJP leader said he would work sincerely for the development of Odisha and welfare of its people. Pradhan said he was humbled at the trust and confidence reposed on him by the prime minister. Noting that there are now two Cabinet Ministers at the Centre from Odisha, he said his elevation showed Modi’s love for the state. Pradhan’s statement on Mission-120 comes a day after the ruling BJD in the state yesterday exuded confidence that the regional party would win in 123 of the 147 seats in the state Assembly. BJD vice-president and food supplies and consumer welfare minister SN Patro made the claim in reply to Shah’s earlier statement that BJP would secure 120 seats in the next Assembly elections. Besides Pradhan, other senior BJP leaders of Odisha maintained that Shah’s calculation had never gone wrong. “We are confident of achieving our Mission-120,” state BJP spokesperson Golak Mohapatra had said, rejecting Patro’s claim.