**Bhubaneswar:** PM Narendra Modi is a man full of surprises and his nuances have never failed to seize the attention of the Nation. In 2014, he sprang a surprise by asking incumbent Varanasi MP and the then BJP stalwart Murli Manohar Joshi to relocate to Kanpur and announced his own candidature from holy land of Hindus.
With 2019 polls approaching closer, the political fervor has gathered momentum along with the speculations on ‘which constituency will Modi handpick this time’. If political deductions are anything to go by, Modi is likely to contest from the Pilgrim Town Puri in 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
The saffron party has a special focus on Odisha, galvanising its cadre in the State over the past couple of years. No wonder BJP chose Odisha to merchandise the achievements of NDA Government between 2014 and 2018. On this occasion, it was BJP’s poster-boy Modi, who addressed a huge rally at Cuttack, in May this year.
Senior BJP MLA Pradip Purohit said that the Prime Minister’s charisma has a National appeal and he can contest from any seat across the country. “The possibility of Narendra Modi contesting from Puri cannot be ruled out. The PM loves Odisha and is dedicated for the development of the State. In the near future, if he announces his candidature from Puri, there is nothing to be surprised about it.”
This was a probably the first instance when senior BJP leader from Odisha spoke about the likelihood of the Modi-Puri equation. Purohit also hinted at the rationale behind BJP National president Amit Shah’s frequent visits to Odisha in the past. Shah is also going to preside on the BJP Mahila Morcha meet at Puri on September 24.
Modi had fought the 2014 elections from Vadodara and Varanasi. The grapevine has it that he would contest from two constituencies in 2019; Varanasi, and the second is yet to be clinched, most likely Puri.
“PM Modi is a man full of surprises. And his talent for it cuts both ways. We never know what announcement he has in store for September 22, when he will address the public at Talcher and Jharsuguda, two major industrial towns of Odisha,” a city-based political commentator said.
**Also Read:** [Will Prime Minister Narendra Modi Contest 2019 Elections From Puri?](https://www.ommcomnews.com/odisha-news/will-prime-minister-narendra-modi-contest-2019-elections-from-puri-)