Ashok Sahu’s tweet on Modi’s page

Bhubaneswar, Sept. 16: Senior BJP leader Ashok Sahu today tweeted to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging the premier to make him the party candidate from the Kandhamal Lok Sabha seat.

The by-election on the seat has been necessitated by the death of BJD’s sitting MP Hemendra Singh. Sahu’s move generated much heat in the BJP camp as he continued to unleash a barrage of tweets in support of his candidature. Today’s tweet went when senior BJP leaders here were meeting to finalise the candidate for the seat.

To reach a consensus on the candidate, BJP’s Odisha in-charge Arun Singh today held consultation with senior party leaders. But, suspense over party candidate continues.

1`Knowing that the Prime Minister is on twitter, Sahu tweeted: “Odisha Kandhamal loksabha chunao kshetra se upachunao hona hai. mujhe ticket nahin deneke karan udhar se bhajapa nen jamanat khoya (The by-election is going to be held in Kandhamal. The party has lost people’s confidence as I was denied a ticket).”

In yet another tweet to the Prime Minister, Sahu said: “Is baar mujhe ticket milne se Bhajapa ka paksh mein jeet ka ummid hai. Kandhamal mein abki baar jeetna jaruri hai. Pranam (If I am given the ticket this time, the BJP has a strong chance of winning. We must win in Kandhamal this time. Regards).”

Yesterday, he tweeted: “The BJP should field a suitable candidate in Kandhamal, who can ensure victory for the party and secure the confidence of workers.” Sahu’s first tweet on the subject came on September 8. It stated that the party could win the seat if it fielded the right candidate.

Sahu had contested the Kandhamal Lok Sabha seat in 2009 but was denied a ticket for the seat at the last moment in the elections held in May.

He was instead given a ticket to contest the Puri Lok Sabha constituency and was defeated. However, the candidate selected by the party for the Kandhamal Lok Sabha seat fared badly, losing even his security deposit.

BJP’s spokesperson Suresh Pujari said: “A number of aspirants have applied for the Kandhamal Lok Sabha seat. We will have another meeting on September 18, and the next day, we will shortlist prospective candidates. The Parliamentary Board will take a final call on September 20.”

In yet another development, a Congress delegation today reached Kandhamal to take stock of the ground reality and suggest candidates, who would have a realistic chance of winning the seat.