Sangma arrives in Odisha to seek support

BHUBANESWAR: Presidential candidate Purno Sangma arrived in Odisha Sunday to seek support for the July 19 poll.

Chief whip of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) Rabi Narayan Pani and deputy chief whip Arun Sahu were among the senior leaders who welcomed Sangma, a former Lok Sabha speaker, at the Biju Patnaik airport here.

Although the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is backing Sangma, its leaders were not seen at the reception.

Sangma went straight to the official residence of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik from the airport.

The BJD has 108 members in the state's 147-member assembly. It has 14 members in the Lok Sabha and seven in Rajya Sabha.

Patnaik announced his party's support for Sangma in May and was also the first to sign as a proposer on his nomination papers.

United Progressive Alliance presidential candidate Pranab Mukherjee had campaigned in the state July 11.