PM Narendra Modi to campaign for high-profile candidates like Jay Panda, Babul Supriyo, Shekhawat & Rajashekharan

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi has decided to campaign for some high-profile candidates of the party in states where the opposition has put up a stiff battle against them. This strategy is also expected to send a signal to the opposition of the BJP’s intent.

The PM will campaign for Baijayant Panda in Kendrapada in Odisha on April 23 after Panda shifted from the Biju Janata Dal to the BJP earlier this year and is now squaring up against his former party’s candidate, Odia film star Anubhav Mohanty. BJP had appointed Panda as the party’s national vice-president. The Prime Minister will be proceeding to Kendrapada straight from Ahmedabad after casting his vote on the morning of April 23. Modi will same day also travel to Asansol in West Bengal to campaign for party MP and singer Babul Supriyo who is taking on TMC candidate and former film star Moon Moon Sen. Modi will also campaign for its former Kerala BJP President Kummanam Rajashekharan in Thiruvanthapuram in Kerala on April 18, where Congress’s Shashi Tharoor is in the battle.

Modi has also decided to campaign for senior Rajasthan BJP leader and union minister, Gajendra Shekhawat who is facing a spirited challenge from Congress after the party came to power in the state last December. Shekhawat is taking on Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot’s son, Vaibhav Gehlot from Jodhpur which is also the stronghold of Ashok Gehlot. PM will hold a rally for Shekhawat in Jodhpur on April 22. Modi will also be in the minority-dominated Araria for a rally on April 20, the only seat that the BJP is fighting in Seemanchal and the party is keen to change the narrative here. BJP’s Pradip Singh is taking on RJD’s Sarfaraz Ahmed, to whom Singh had lost in last year’s by-poll in Araria.