Modi-mania has travelled all the way from the west coast to the east. The Odisha unit of the BJP has already coined a slogan to welcome Gujarat chief minister (and possible prime ministerial nominee) Narendra Modi to their state: “From Somnath to Jagannath!”

Even as speculation was rife that Modi would contest a Lok Sabha seat from Uttar Pradesh (either Lucknow or Faizabad), the Odisha unit wants him to contest from its state. And they would like him to contest from the KBK (Kalahandi-Bolangir-Koraput) region, universally regarded as a byword for backwardness.

“There are many similarities between Odisha and Gujarat. Both are coastal states, with temples of major significance,” observed BJP MLA and likely state party president Kanak Vardhan Singh Deo. Bolangir in western Odisha is seen as a safe seat for Modi. At the moment, it is held by the BJD but was earlier with the BJP, for three successive terms.

Modi's contesting from Odisha can boost the fortunes of the BJP in the state overnight, Singh Deo added. “He may contest from UP but there is no reason why he cannot contest a seat from Odisha as well... we know he will be campaigning all over the country, so all he has to do is file his nomination and we will look after the rest,” he maintained. With a renewed pre-poll alliance between the BJD and the BJP unlikely, the latter – which slid from 32 to six assembly seats after Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik pulled out of the alliance in 2009 – needs a strong shot in the arm.

Meanwhile, as the clamour for Modi as PM candidate grows, the Gujarat unit of BJP has said he should follow in former PM Atal Behari Vajpayee's footsteps and respond to the demands of UP MLAs that he make his debut in parliament from the country's largest state.