Reported by Chinmaya Dehury

Bhubaneswar, Mar 10:

After holding a massive and successful rally for the BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi in the state capital in February, the BJP leaders in the state are trying to cash in on the 'Modi wave' as they prepare for the second Modi rally at Sambalpur on March 14.

The campaign managers of the party want to brighten the party's prospects in five Lok Sabha (LS) seats in western Odisha by playing the regional imbalance card and using the 'Modi wave'. They hope Modi's Sambalpur rally will not only galvanise its cadres and supporters but also people across western Odisha.

Of the five seats, four-Sambalpur, Sundargarh, Bargarh and Kalahandi- are represented by the Congress while Bolangir is held by BJD.

The state BJP president KV Singhdeo hails from Bolangir and represents the Patnagarh assembly seat in the district .

Since all the candidates for the seats in western Odisha districts have been declared earlier, the party feels that the visit of Modi will boost the wining prospects of the contenders.

"Traditionally, our vote-base in western Odisha has been higher compared to other parts of the state. However, the country-wide Modi wave and selection of good candidates will help  all the candidates to be fielded in the region secure victory,” said Suresh Pujari, who is all set to fight from the Sambalpur Lok Sabha constituency.

In the last three general elections, he had lost from the Brajarajnagar assembly seat.

Pujari said that the regional imbalance that had seriously affected the growth of  western Odisha would be a major poll plank for the party.

The party has decided to field Pradeep Nayak (Koraput), Subash Chauhan (Bargarh), Jual Oram (Sundargarh -ST) Suresh Pujari (Sambalpur) and Sangeeta Kumari Singh Deo  ( Bolangir) as MP candidates in five Lok Sabha constituencies western Odisha.

BJP had got over 20% votes in these five Lok Sabha segments while it had got 15% votes across the state, said party sources.