Odisha: PM Modi offers prayers at Jagannath temple in Puri, leads roadshow

Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered prayers at the Jagannath temple in Puri on Monday morning, and led a roadshow here to canvass support for candidates of the BJP.

He led the roadshow from Marichkote square to Medical square on Grand Road in Puri. The PM was accompanied by state BJP president Manmohan Samal, the party’s MP candidate Sambit Patra and Puri MLA nominee Jayanta Sarangi.

Thousands of people lined up on both sides of the barricaded stretch on Grand Road, waving at the prime minister, holding the lotus symbol. Elaborate security arrangements were in place for the roadshow, police said.

After the roadshow, Modi will leave in a helicopter for Angul, where he is scheduled to address a public meeting. The PM will then arrive in Cuttack for another poll rally.

The second phase of polling for five Lok Sabha constituencies and 35 assembly seats in Odisha began amid tight security on Monday.