Modi likely to contest Varanasi again in 2019 despite talk of Puri, say BJP sources
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha election from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh again, senior BJP sources said, even as speculation grew that he might choose the temple town of Puri in Odisha for the April-May polls.
Varanasi favoured, Puri unconfirmed
According to the sources, the party’s parliamentary board strongly favours a repeat contest in Varanasi. Whether Mr Modi will also stand from a second constituency, and whether that seat would be Puri, remained unclear. In an interview with the news agency ANI, the Prime Minister had neither confirmed nor ruled out an Odisha candidacy, remarking: “Media people additionally ought to get some work.”
In 2014, Mr Modi, now 68, contested both Varanasi and Vadodara in his home state of Gujarat. He won both and decided to keep the Uttar Pradesh seat, where he defeated Arvind Kejriwal and the Congress’s Ajay Rai by a wide margin.
The BJP’s eastern push
Talk of a Puri candidacy reflects the BJP‘s ambition to raise its tally in West Bengal, Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. Party strategists believe Mr Modi’s presence on the ballot helped the BJP win 71 of the 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh in 2014. After setbacks in by-elections in Uttar Pradesh and defeats to the Congress in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, the party sees more room for growth in the east, the sources said. In both Bengal and Odisha the BJP had finished second in key recent contests.
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra is believed to be eyeing Puri, and several other spokespersons are reportedly keen to contest. The party’s central election committee was expected to finalise candidates and seats at a meeting this week. Varanasi votes on May 19 in the last of seven phases that begin on April 11, with counting on May 23.
What happened next
The BJP won 303 of 543 seats in the 2019 election, counted on 23 May 2019, and Narendra Modi was sworn in for a second term on 30 May 2019.
See also: Lok Sabha members and constituency profiles.
Originally published on 12 March 2019. Rewritten on 9 October 2026.
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