TV
Speculations are rife ahead of the 2024 General Elections that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik may spring a surprise by contesting from the Puri Assembly constituency. As Patnaik had contested from two seats in the last election, some of the political analysts are of the opinion that he may follow the same formula and contest from Puri as one of the seats.
Following the execution of the Sri Mandir Parikrama Project (SMPP), many political experts believe that Puri is in Patnaik’s focus. Earlier in the 2019 elections, the Chief Minister had contested from Hinjili in Ganjam district and Bijepur in Bargarh district.
As per the experts, Patnaik may opt for Puri apart from Hinjili in the upcoming election.
Currently, the work on the Sri Mandir Parikrama Project is going on in a war footing and it is expected to be finished in December. Many other infrastructural works are also in progress in Puri. Even the State government has planned an international airport in Puri for which Patnaik has held discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Moreover, BJD leader and senior Daitapati servitor, Ramkrushna Das Mohapatra’s statement in this regard has added fuel to the discussions. As per Mohapatra, people across party lines will support Patnaik if he chooses to contest the election from the ‘Jagannath Dham’.
“Puri residents will be proud if Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik becomes a candidate from Puri. People across party lines will support Patnaik in the constituency. As a result, many more developmental activities will take place in the city,” said Mohapatra.
Puri is always in BJD’s focus. Various programmes were organised in the town on the occasion of the ruling party’s foundation day. Apart from that, cabinet meetings have also been organised outside Lok Seva Bhawan in Puri. Moreover, the biggest scheme for the farmers in the State- the KALIA scheme was also launched from Puri before the 2019 elections. Considering all these developments, the plot is set and conducive for Patnaik to contest from Puri.
However, BJP’s organisational structure has strengthened in Puri. In the last election, the saffron party had won Puri and Brahmagiri seats. BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra had also given a tough fight to BJD candidate Pinaki Mishra in the Puri Lok Sabha constituency. Sambit has also been strengthening his public outreach in the constituency on a regular basis. As per several political experts, BJD might play Naveen card to checkmate BJP’s progress in Puri. Apart from that, Naveen may try to bolster his image further by contesting from an area having religious importance.
“It seems to be a strategy of the BJD to checkmate the progress of BJP in Puri. The government has taken up several developmental activities in the city and they will try to cash in,” said senior journalist, Prasanna Mohanty.
Meanwhile, Puri MLA & BJP leader, Jayant Sarangi indicated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi might contest from the Puri Lok Sabha constituency.
“If Naveen Patnaik contests from Puri, we have no worries. However, Puri people have self-respect and they are very clever. They will never want to elect someone as an MLA whom they will not find in their constituency later,” said Sarangi.
“We are also hearing that PM Modi might contest the 2024 election from Puri Lok Sabha constituency. If it happens, Modi mania will overtake everything,” he added.
