Meira Kumar's Odisha visit postponed

BHUBANESWAR: Opposition presidential candidate Meira Kumar's Odisha visit was postponed on Monday.

Kumar was scheduled to arrive at Bhubaneswar at around 7.30 pm on Monday to campaign for her. She was slated to meet MLAs and MPs of the state to support her candidature. But later the congress leaders here informed the media that her visit was postponed.

A release issued by the party said, "She couldn't come in the flight in which she was scheduled to arrive at Bhubaneswar. Date of the next visit will be decided soon."

Leader of the opposition Narasingha Mishra said she couldn't arrive at Bhubaneswar because of technical problem in her flight at Hyderabad. "She is in Hyderabad and will attend her next programme at Kolkata on Tuesday morning," he added.

He said there is no other reason behind postponement of her visit. "Because she couldn't visit Odisha on Monday, we will soon fix a date for her next visit," he added.

State Congress

president

Prasad Harichandan

had recently requested all 147 MLAs of the state assembly to vote for Meira Kumar, a dalit woman leader and former

Lok Sabha

speaker. He had also urged the BJD to reconsider its decision to support Kumar instead of NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind.