PM Modi, Amit Shah, Hema Malini to campaign for BJP in Odisha

Apart from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah, nine film personalities, including Hema Malini, will campaign for the saffron party candidates in the upcoming Lok Sabha and state Assembly elections in Odisha.

The BJP on Wednesday released its list of 40 "star campaigners" for Odisha which is scheduled to go to polls in four phases on April 11, 18, 23 and 29.

The 40-member star campaigners' list was submitted at the office of the Chief Electoral Officer, Odisha, a party leader said on Thursday. The Lok Sabha and the Assembly polls in the state will be held simultaneously for 21 Lok Sabha seats and 147 assembly seats.

According to BJP's list, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and several union ministers such as Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari, Smriti Irani, Prakash Javadekar, Jual Oram, Dharmendra Pradhan, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and the party's national spokesman Sambit Patra, would be the star campaigners.

In addition, former BJP chief ministers such as Raman Singh, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Arjun Munda and former Odisha chief minister Giridhar Gomango were also in the list of star campaigners.

The star campaigners list issued by BJP's state vice-president Samir Mohanty also contained names of Odia film stars such as Mihir Das, Sritam Das, Maheswata Ray, Aparajita Mohanty, Anu Choudhury, Pinki Pradhan, Ashrumnochan Mohanty and Harihar Mohapatra.