Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan sought to take his ‘image building’ exercise to the next level while Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw emerged as a face who wanted to identify himself with the common people.

Dharmendra attending events with Aparajita Sarangi and meeting Bijoy Mohapatra, is seen as a patch-up move. BJP knows it needs to stay united to pose any challenge to rampaging, invincible Naveen Patnaik.

It would be interesting to see whether the “Unity” in Odisha BJP is real or just an eyewash to placate the central leadership who are not happy with the party’s progress in the State.