As the 2019 elections are nearing, the BJP seems to be getting increasingly anxious over its national president Amit Shah’s “Mission 120+” in Odisha that aims at his party winning 120 of the State Assembly’s 147 seats and a commensurate number of Lok Sabha constituencies.
In view of a situation not at all favourable for achieving the overambitious target, the party is now seriously considering a proposal for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to contest from the Puri Parliamentary constituency so that its effect might facilitate the party to gain a respectable number of Assembly and Lok Sabha seats in the State.
No wonder, BJP general secretary and Odisha in-charge Arun Singh on Saturday repeated party State president Basant Panda’s Friday statement that Modi is proposed to contest from Puri though the Prime Minister and BJP Parliamentary Board would take a final decision on the move.
Singh claimed that the 120+ mission is well on its track and the BJP would “uproot” the Naveen Patnaik-ledBJD Government in the next elections.
In reaction, BJD spokesperson Amar Satpathy said that what BJP leaders are asserting is only meant to “encourage their party cadres”. In Odisha, people continue to be with Naveen Patnaik.
Satpathy said the move for Modi contesting from Puri shows that the BJP, as evident from recent by-elections, is losing ground in Uttar Pradesh, from where Modi is a representative in the Lok Sabha. Satpathy particularly pointed out the BJP’s defeat in the Gorakhpur Parliamentary seat, which was a longtime bastion of UP Chief Minister Jogi Adityanath.