PM Modi Most Likely To Contest From Puri: BJP

Bhubaneswar: A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi dismissed media reports about him contesting the LoK Sabha elections from Puri, the Odisha BJP unit on Wednesday said  there is every likelihood that he would enter the fray from here.

“Odisha is now a focus state for the Prime Minister and Puri holds a special place in his heart. Since he had fought from Varanasi in 2014 with the blessings of Lord Jagannath, it is most likely that he will choose Puri in this year’s general elections. Hence, the issue of the Prime Minister contesting from Puri cannot be ruled out as there is 90 per cent possibility of his contesting from this constituency,” BJP MLA leader Pradip Purohit informed the media here.

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 Odisha,” Acharya told the media in New Delhi.

BJD’s Pinaki Mishra had won from Puri Lok Sabha constituency in 2014 by bagging 50.33 per cent votes and continue to remain a strong contender for the seat.

Notably, talking about this issue to the ANI in an exclusive interview on Tuesday, Modi had said the buzz was media-created and no decision has been taken in this regard. “There should be something for the media to discuss every time,” the Prime Minister had pointed out.