The BJP State leadership is disappointed that despite its repeated request Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not prefer to contest elections from the Puri Parliamentary constituency and, instead, decided to stick to his old Varanasi seat.

Party leaders in Odisha had hoped that if Modi had been a candidate here, it would have had a highly favourable impact on winning prospects of other party contestants for both Lok Sabha and Assembly seats in the State so that the party could achieve its much-touted claim of “120+” Assembly seats and a commensurate number of Parliamentary constituencies. 

Now that Dr Sambit Patra, BJP national spokesperson, has been declared as the party’s Puri Lok Sabha nominee, the BJD is quite relieved and is expected to retain the seat without much difficulty. Incumbent Puri BJD MP Pinaki Misra, who is sure to be re-nominated as party candidate, can look forward to winning for a third straight term. He had been elected as the Puri MP one more time in 1999 as a Congress candidate.

It is difficult to fathom why the BJP national leadership decided to field Sambit Patra from Puri. Originally belonging to Jajpur district and having his MBBS from the SCB Medical College in Cuttack and PG from the Medical College in Burla, Patra has no activities to reckon with in Puri. He says he will be contesting the polls in Puri with the blessings of Lord Jagannath and of PM Modi.

As for his electoral records, he had earlier contested as a BJP ward candidate in the Delhi municipal area and was defeated.

The Congress is yet to name its Puri Lok Sabha nominee, but the party is too weak in the area to give a challenge to the BJD’s Pinaki Misra.