Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday visited the Jagannath temple and offered prayers to the sibling deities in the 12th century shrine here.
Accompanied by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra, local MLAs — Jayanta Sarangi and Lalitendu Bidyadhar Mohapatra —, Sitharaman spent more than 30 minutes inside the temple.
The FM also visited a sand art session on ‘Meri Maati, Mera Desh' by sand artist Sudarshan Pattnaik. Sitharaman and Pradhan also attended a plantation drive in Puri and visited the birthplace of freedom fighter Saheed Jayee Rajguru.
After returning to Bhubaneswar, Sitharaman and Pradhan will take part in a book launch and join the inauguration ceremony of the 20th National CA Conference. Sitharaman arrived in Bhubaneswar on a two-day visit to Odisha on Wednesday night.
