Bhubaneswar, March 25 (IANS): With an eye to grab Odisha in the 2019 assembly polls, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has decided to hold its national executive meeting here on April 15 and 16.

Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Saturday said senior leaders of the party would attend the two-day executive meeting in Bhubaneswar.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP National President Amit Shah, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Chief Ministers of BJP-ruled states will attend the executive meeting, Pradhan said.

Besides them, senior BJP leaders L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi and several other national leaders of the party will attend the two-day meet in Bhubaneswar, he added.

The meeting is expected to give fresh momentum to party activities in the state as the BJP, which has performed exceptionally in the panchayat polls, is targeting to dethrone the incumbent Naveen Patnaik government in the assembly elections scheduled to be held in 2019.

"The Prime Minister will arrive in Odisha to thank the people of the state for their unprecedented support to the BJP in the recently concluded panchayat polls," Pradhan said.

BJP's Odisha in-charge Arun Singh and National Joint Secretary (Organisation) Soudan Singh will visit Odisha on Sunday to review preparations for the meeting.