As the elections come closer the speculation go on the rise at all fronts. After a few set-backs in the recent past now the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is obviously has Odisha on its target notwithstanding the bonhomie between Modi and Naveen. If it was Varanasi in 2014, Modi may prefer to shift the focus to another ‘Dham’ i.e Puri. Like Varanasi brought him Uttar Pradesh and now Puri may earn him Odisha, is what some chatters in the political grapevine suggest.
First the last visits of some top BJP leaders to Puri and then the recent showdown through the grandiose procession till the immersion of late Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s ash-urn at Mahodadhi in Puri had caught the attention of the political observers.
Further, unconfirmed reports say that at present about 70 ‘ pracharaks ‘ drawn from the Rastriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS) have been placed in Puri to make the required survey in order to assess the strength of the BJP cadre there and of the opposition in Puri Lok Sabha constituency.
Camping in Puri the said Sangh observers are getting into all the 7 Assembly segments of Puri digging out the mood of people and their grievances against the local leaders including all. This has set in a fear among the BJD leaders in Puri and so also among the local BJP leaders.
Two months back the overdrive by the BJP leaders on the issue of fights between the Sevayats and the Puri administration and on the Ratnabhandar missing key, did hint at such speculation. The RSS observers keep the Central leadership of the BJP and the Sangh updated about their surveys from time to time.
