Bhubaneswar: The battle between the BJP and the BJD to win over voters has reached outside Odisha.

It is currently being fought in Surat in Gujarat, the home state of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah. Both the parties have set their eyes on the seven lakh Odias residing in Surat.

Most of these Odias are from Ganjam, the home turf of Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik. They are seen as the game-changer in the electoral politics of Ganjam. The BJP had miserably failed to make an impact in Ganjam in the panchayat election held last year.

As a part of the strategy to woo the Odias in Surat, the BJP with the help of an NGO is going to organise "Odisha parva in Surat" for two days in the first week of September where the culture of Odisha will be showcased. Union petroleum minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Gujarat chief minister Vijay Rupani will attend the event.

The BJD, too, is leaving no stone unturned to create its base in Surat. On Monday, a delegation of Odias from Surat, led by the BJD's Gopalpur MLA Pradeep Panigrahi, met Naveen and invited him to visit Surat.

On Tuesday, Naveen wrote a letter to Union railway minister Piyush Goyal to run two daily trains between Berhampur and Surat. "I would request you to look into the genuine demand of people of south Odisha working in Surat and introduce two daily trains between Berhampur and Surat - which will greatly serve the travelling needs of seven lakh people from Odisha, working in Gujarat," said the Odisha chief minister.

Earlier last week, the Odisha chief minister had sought Union civil aviation minister Suresh Prabhu's attention to introduce direct flight services between Bhubaneswar and Surat.

Last month, Naveen had deputed finance minister Sashi Bhusan Behera and Rajya Sabha member Prashant Nanda to visit Surat to make an on-the-spot assessment of the plight of Odia workers hit by the Goods and Services Tax (GST). However, Behera had faced the wrath of the Odias, who had been duped by fake money circulation deposit companies in Surat.

However, Behera had maintained that a deliberate attempt was being made to politicise the issue, and a misinformation campaign had been organised against the state government. He had assured the people in Surat that all would get justice as the Odisha government had initiated steps to return the money to duped investors.