Bhubaneswar, Apr 12: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik met with Ollywood actors, actresses, and singers at his residence, Naveen Niwas, here today.

This move of the BJD supremo has been marked by many as the BJD's 'desperate' dependence on cine actors for election campaigning, while four superstars of Ollywood- Anubhav Mohanty, Siddhant Mohapatra, Akash Das Nayak and Arindam Roy, have quit the party and joined the BJP ahead of elections.   

Several artists including Babushan Mohanty, Amlan Das, actress Lipsa Mishra etc were present in the meeting. Many of the artists, on their return from Naveen Nivas, told reporters that they were called by the Chief Minister and 5T Chairman V.K. Pandian for a meeting.

Discussions were held on the developmental goals set for Odisha from 2024 to 2034, said an artist.

A presentation on the BJD government's activities was shown during the meeting, he said. 

“We were asked to campaign on what the state government has done for Odisha,” said another artist.
Meanwhile, poll analysts said the BJD, intending to counter BJP’s star power, has reportedly planned to engage the artists in campaigning during the upcoming general elections to the State assembly and Lok Sabha.

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