BJP keeps Opposition guessing with no final seat for PM Narendra Modi

The constituency from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be fighting the Lok Sabha elections continues to puzzle the Opposition, political pundits, and the general electorates as well.

Knowing PM Modi's traction value in several states, especially northern and western India, and that not much time is needed for preparations to ensure his victory, the BJP has chosen to keep quiet over his choice of seat.

To add to the confusion, selective leaks have come out, intermittently, about PM Modi's preference of fighting the elections from several seats. While seats in Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, Puri in Odisha and one seat in Gujarat are plausible options, rumours of PM fighting from Tamil Nadu and Kerala are a far cry. However, such speculations are still in circulation.

Ask any BJP leader about the same and the stock reply is, "Modi ji can be a candidate from any seat. His popularity is such that he can defeat anyone anywhere. The Opposition should feel happy one candidate can contest from a maximum of two seats."

Until recently, BJP sources were not discounting the possibility of PM Modi choosing to fight from either of the two Tamil Nadu seats, Kanyakumari in South and Coimbatore and Tirupur in the Western part of the state, where BJP has a fair presence.

When tension over the Sabarimala temple issue was at its peak, some even ventured out say that PM Modi could fight from Kerala. The rumour was, apparently, spread to add traction to the BJP votes and send a message of his acceptability in deep South India where BJP is virtually a non-entity.

Then came another speculation in January this year from BJP MLA from Odisha's Padampur Assembly constituency Pradip Purohit, that the PM could contest elections from Puri constituency.

"There is 90 per cent possibility of Prime Minister Narendra Modi contesting from Puri seat," Purohit had said, adding that PM had sought blessings of Lord Jagannath and won from Varanasi in 2014.

BJP sources concede that PM Modi would never leave his home state Gujarat and will definitely fight from there. But which seat he would choose is again anybody's guess. BJP leaders see possible seats as Gandhinagar, Vadodara, Rajkot, and Surat, though they also say that it can be any of the 26 seats in Gujarat.

Most leaders agree that PM Modi will definitely contest from Varanasi because Uttar Pradesh is a key state that the party is looking at to ensure a second term and his presence there is necessary. Moreover, leaving Varanasi will give a psychological advantage to the Opposition to claim a moral victory over BJP.

In the case of Gujarat, BJP leaders claim that PM Modi will not leave his home state Gujarat. Party observers, looking at two seats -- Vadodara and Rajkot -- said that the PM may contest the polls from these two seats.

Senior BJP leader Narhari Amin had said that PM Modi could contest polls from Rajkot. Same words were reiterated by the chief whip in Gujarat Assembly BJP Pankaj Desai who is an observer for Vadodara.

Another BJP leader said there is a strong possibility of PM choosing the Gandhinagar seat.

"You need a big leader to replace a tall leader like LK Advani. Gandhinagar constituency has maximum urban voters who vote for BJP. It is the right place for the PM to contest so he could woo Gujarati voters and ensure that all 26 seats fall in BJP's kitty," said the leader.

Others believe that BJP president Amit Shah will contest polls from Gandhinagar, as he would like to enter the Parliament through direct polls. In that case, some senior leaders see a possibility of the PM contesting from even Surat.