Bhubaneswar: External Affairs Minister (EAM) S. Jaishankar is scheduled to visit Odisha’s Cuttack city on May 5 to canvass for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in the state.

The diplomat-turned-politician will attend an event at Nishamani Convention Hall in Cuttack city, said Cuttack MP Bhartruhari Mahtab, who is now seeking re-election from the same Lok Sabha constituency on a BJP ticket.

“The External Affairs Minister is coming to Cuttack on May 5 (Sunday) to canvass for BJP for the twin polls. Many other central leaders of the party including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah are scheduled to visit Odisha poll campaign later,” Mahtab added.

Many BJP activists as well as common people will participate in the May 5 event of the External Affairs Minister in the Silver City.

Mahtab, the son of former Chief Minister Harekrushna Mahatab and a six-time Lok Sabha MP from Cuttack, had resigned from the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Odisha on March 22.

He, later, joined the BJP and got party ticket to fight from the Cuttack Lok Sabha seat in 2024 polls.

The Naveen Patnaik-led party has picked Santrupt Mishra, a former top executive at Aditya Birla Group, to fight the polls from Cuttack while the Congress party has nominated veteran leader Suresh Mohapatra from the constituency for the upcoming polls.