Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha election from the temple town of Puri in Odisha.

Sources told India Today that just as in the 2014 election, he will contest from two seats in 2019 as well. However, instead of Vadodara, his other seat will remain Varanasi.

Last time he had vacated Vadodara and retained Varanasi. However, it is not yet clear which one he would vacate in 2019.

The groundwork for PM Modi to contest from Puri is being done on a war-footing. The BJP's poster boy will sound the poll bugle for 2019 elections by addressing a rally in another Odisha city of Cuttack on May 26 to celebrate four years of his government.

BJD's Pinaki Misra is the sitting MP from Puri.

ELECTORAL ARITHMETIC

The BJP wishes to maximise its seat share in these four states in the 2019 general elections. The party's focus on Odisha is aimed at galvanising its cadre not just in Odisha but also in the neighbouring states of West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

With the BJP reaching a saturation point in several states such as Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Gujarat in 2014, it sees an opportunity to increase its seat share in these four states.

These four states share 105 Lok Sabha seats among them. The BJP won only six seats in the 2014 general elections - two out of 42 in West Bengal, one out of 21 in Odisha, two out of 25 in Andhra Pradesh and one out of 17 in Telangana.

The BJP has emerged as the closest contender to Mamata Banerjee-led TMC in West Bengal and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's BJD. In both the places, it pipped the Congress and the Left to the post by coming second in the local elections.

Odisha faces Assembly election along with the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The BJP expects to defeat the ruling BJD in the state polls due to 18 years of anti-incumbency. Patnaik has won four consecutive elections since March 2000.

After Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu-headed TDP split from the NDA, the BJP has been making inroads in the state. Amit Shah has claimed that his party is being prepared down to the booth level.

RELIGIOUS SYMBOLISM

As in 2014, Modi's juggernaut from Puri in the next year's election will also have a religious symbolism.

Modi's election in 2014 was linked to Lord Shiva, considered as the destroyer in Hindu scriptures. Varanasi is famous for Kashi Vishwanath temple of Lord Shiva. The BJP was on a mission to defeat the Congress then.

The 2019 election would be linked to Lord Vishnu in the avatar of Lord Krishna and who is considered as the preserver. The BJP wishes to preserve power at the Centre.

Lord Krishna is an important deity of the Hindus in West Bengal, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. This is the belt that Modi seeks to tap in 2019.

Modi's 2019 juggernaut will start its journey from Lord Jagannath's abode in Puri.

Situated on the eastern part of Odisha, Puri is the abode of Lord Vishnu, most popularly known as Lord Jagannath.

Jagannath yatra every year takes place in both Puri and Ahmedabad in Gujarat which is PM Modi and BJP president Amit Shah's home state.

Dwarka in Gujarat is also a significant pilgrim town associated with Lord Krishna.

Using the religious symbolism, the BJP expects to spread its wings in the four states in the East and the South in 2019.