Modi to contest from Puri too?

BHUBANESWAR: A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi parried questions over contesting the 2019 general elections from Puri, the State BJP continued to stick its neck out, asserting there was every possibility of him entering the fray from the holy town.

While the State BJP unit has already made a formal request to the central leadership for fielding Modi from Puri, party legislator Pradip Purohit on Wednesday claimed there was 90 per cent chance of the PM favourably considering the request.

Purohit’s claim gained currency with BJP’s Puri district president Pravanjan Mohapatra revealing that the central office of the party was taking daily feedback on the political situation in the district.

Puri is a high value seat not just because of its religious symbolism but also in view of the BJP’s Look East policy. If Modi does pick Puri along with Varanasi, his presence would turbocharge the party in Odisha where it is expecting a rich haul in the general elections.

While party president Amit Shah has said the next golden period of the BJP would emerge from the East, Modi’s increased focus on Odisha is apparent from his frequent visits to the State. He was in Odisha twice in the last three months and is set to address two rallies at Mayurbhanj and Balangir this month.

Odisha is important for the BJP as it reached the saturation point in the North, West and the Hindi heartland States in 2014. In contrast, the party won just one out of 21 Lok Sabha seats in Odisha and two out of 42 in West Bengal in 2014.

Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan had said the Nabakalebara (new shape) of the party would begin from Puri, dropping enough hints about possible candidature of Modi from there. He, however, parried direct questions saying such matters are decided by the BJP Parliamentary Board.

Asked to comment on the issue, State BJP president Basant Panda said the Odisha  unit had made formal request for Modi contesting from Puri during the National Executive meeting here in 2017. “We will be very happy if the party decides to field Modi from Puri. The party will gain immensely if such a thing happens,” he said.

Commenting on the issue, senior BJD leader and Rajya Sabha member Prasanna Acharya said the decision of the Prime Minister to contest from Puri will have no impact on the BJD. “Since the people of Odisha are strongly behind the Chief Minister and have reposed immense faith and trust in him and the BJD, it does not matter if any leader from the other States decides to contest from our State,” Acharya told the media.

One the other hand, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Niranjan Patnaik said the BJP is losing ground everywhere in the country.  Since the saffron party has no presence in the State,  Modi contesting from Odisha will have little impact, he stated.