Deogarh (Odisha) [India], April 16 : Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, Union Minister and BJP Lok Sabha candidate from Sambhalpur, Dharmendra Pradhan participated in the Maa Bhadrakhali 'Meru Yatra' at Aunli in Deogarh.
After participating in the 'Meru Yatra' on Monday, Pradhan said that it is his fortune that he got the opportunity to get the 'Darshan' of the Goddess.
"It is my fortune that I could come here over the invitation of people. I got the opportunity to get the 'Darshan' of the Goddess," he said.
Earlier, the Union Minister took a jibe at Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, saying that "Yuvraj" is nowhere in the country's politics or the minds of the people.
Pradhan took a swipe at the Congress leader while reacting to his previous remark on BJP's manifesto, Sankalp Patra, wherein he said that two words, "inflation and unemployment," were missing from the promises made in the poll document.
"Congress party and its leader, 'Yuvraj' Rahul Gandhi himself, are nowhere in Indian politics or in people's minds. In these 10 years of the Modi government, we have won the trust of the poor," he said while speaking to ANI.
Coming down heavily on the Congress, the union minister further said that the opposition party will dwindle to more seats than in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
"Those who ruled for generations and decades in this country and states, their manifesto is their failure. When they were in power, they betrayed people and hence, they're in opposition, they'll go down even more," he added.
Dharmendra Pradhan will be contesting from the Sambalpur seat in Odisha.
Notably, in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) got the maximum number of seats, followed by the BJP and the Congress. The BJD won 12 seats, the BJP finished a close second at 8 seats and the Congress bagged just a lone seat.
The Lok Sabha elections in Odisha, which comprise 21 constituencies, are set to take place in four phases. The voting dates have been scheduled for May 13, May 20, May 25, and June 1.
The Lok Sabha polls in India are scheduled to take place from April 19, 2024, to June 1, 2024, to choose the 543 representatives for the 18th Lok Sabha. These elections will be conducted over seven phases, with the outcome being declared on June 4.