BJP has been traditionally weak in Odisha but it has emerged stronger following the local body polls.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will felicitate the members of 16 families associated with an 1817 rebellion in Odisha against the British rule during the BJP's national executive meeting on April 16.The move is part of the saffron party's political drive to increase its influence in the eastern state, where it has traditionally been weak, under its strategy for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections."We want to increase our numbers from these states," Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who is a key party leader from Odisha, told reporters here.The Paika rebellion of 1817 is seen in the state as the first armed mutiny against the colonial rule. PM Modi's decision to meet members of some families behind it will boost the party's image in the state, its leaders said.The BJP's decision to hold its two-day national executive meeting in Odisha, first in 20 years, has been described by them as a launching pad of its ambitious electoral plans for the state for 2019 polls.The party has been traditionally weak in Odisha but it has emerged stronger following the local body polls by bagging over 33 per cent of votes, pushing the Congress to the third position.It believes that the meeting in the state will have an impact in neighbouring states like West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh, the two other big states where it has fared poorly in elections.Odisha sends 21 members to the Lok Sabha with the ruling BJD having 20 and the BJP one member in the current House.BJP president Amit Shah has identified Odisha and West Bengal besides Coromandel and the north eastern states as the regions where it should boost its seat tally significantly in 2019. This is to make up for any loss in west India and states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar which it had swept in 2014.

Its win in assembly polls in Assam and Manipur is seen as a successful execution of this strategy so far.Mr Shah will also be meeting booth-level workers in Odisha in the coming weeks. Incidentally, he has enrolled himself as a party member from the state.