Bhubaneswar, April 23: Union petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan said today that the momentum gained after the BJP national executive committee meeting in Bhubaneswar must be maintained till the electoral battle of 2019.

In order to come to power and turn the good will for Prime Minister Narendra Modi into votes, the state executive decided to strengthen the party in all the 36,000 booths across the state.

Addressing the concluding day of the state executive meet at Baripada, the headquarter of Mayrubhanj district , Pradhan said the approval rating for Prime Minister Narendra Modi among the poor is highest in Odisha.

"The members must convert this into votes in the upcoming elections," he said.

Citing party's the success of the recently held rural polls, Pradhan said: "The party's vote percentage has increased across the state, including coastal districts such as Jajpur, Kendrapara and Cuttack. People have made up their mind to bring a change in the state" On the demand for a special category state status by the chief minister Naveen Patnaik, Pradhan said the issue had become redundant. "The Modi government has given a lot of funds to the state in various sectors. Last year, the Centre had released more than 5000 crore for the development of the state and now Rs 3,000 crore has been provided for construction of pucca houses for the poor,"

The state executive committee which passed a resolution to make a "New Odisha" on the lines of Modi's call for a "New India" vowed to work towards making a new, strong, resurgent and vibrant Odisha, once it came to power in the state. Yesterday, it had passed two resolutions and promised everything under the sun to the people of the state such as employment to the youths and round the clock water and electricity supply.

On the concluding day, it passed a resolution to launch a fight against "an inefficient Naveen Patnaik government". It promised to continue the fight till it dislodged the Naveen Patnaik government. In its resolution, the BJP cited how the state government failed on all fronts, including providing irrigation and pipe water to the people. The party also pointed out how the state failed in the health and education sectors.

BJP's spokesperson Dillip Mohanty said the party had decided to strengthen its base in each booth in the state. "We have coined the words 'My booth is the strongest booth' for this," he said. Though all leaders attended the meeting, two of its senior leader, including Bijoy Mohapatra and Dillip Ray, remained conspicuous by their absence.