Odisha BJP leaders to meet Nadda and Shah amid BJD alliance speculations
The BJP and the BJD have also been allies in the past and the regional party has mainly supported the Modi government’s agenda in Parliament.
Lok Sabha elections 2024: Leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from Odisha on Wednesday met party chief JP Nadda and Union Home Minister Amit Shah amid rumors of a much-speculated alliance with the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) for the upcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly polls, which are held simultaneously. in Odisha.
Reports citing sources say that there is currently a “strong possibility” of an alliance between the BJP and BJD, but the final decision in this regard has to be taken by the saffron party’s top brass depending on several aspects, especially the number of seats who will get to fight.
“Yes, there have been discussions about the alliance, among other things. The party’s central leadership will take the final decision,” said former Union minister Juel Oram, who attended the core committee meeting with Shah and Nadda along with Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan and Odisha BJP chief Manmohan Samal.
BJP will take a large chunk of LS seats if an alliance is formed
According to sources, if the alliance materializes, the BJP will definitely contest a majority of the Lok Sabha seats in the state while the regional party will contest a majority of the Assembly seats, PTI reported.
Odisha has 21 Lok Sabha seats and 147 assembly seats. The BJD and the BJP won 12 and eight parliamentary constituencies and 112 and 23 parliamentary constituencies respectively in 2019.
The BJP’s Central Election Committee, which also includes Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior leaders, will hold its second meeting later this week to finalize the party’s candidates for the Lok Sabha elections.
The ruling party has so far announced candidates for 195 Lok Sabha seats out of the total 543.
Ahead of the CEC meetings, leaders from other states including Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, among others, have held meetings with Shah and Nadda, as the BJP’s list of candidates and a possible new partnership are taking shape in the run-up to the CEC meetings. Lok Sabha polls likely to be held in April-May this year.
BJP-BJD alliance rumours
Strong rumors were doing the rounds in the political circle about a possible BJP-BJD alliance, which were further fueled after Prime Minister Modi and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik publicly praised each other on several occasions, most recently during Modi’s rally in the state on Tuesday.
It is notable that the BJP and the BJD have also been allies in the past and that the regional party mainly supported the Modi government’s agenda in Parliament.
BJP-BJD bonhomie
The alliance speculation gained momentum after the interactions between Amit Shah and Naveen Patnaik aide VK Pandian in August last year, and was further fueled by subsequent instances of BJD-BJP collaboration on legislative matters.
The dynamic between Patnaik and the BJP national leaders, including the praise of the Prime Minister and Shah, has further fueled the speculation.
Earlier, Shah had described Patnaik as the ‘popular chief minister’. Patnaik, on his part, had given 8 out of 10 points to the Modi government at a public meeting in Bhubaneswar.
The close bond between Patnaik and the BJP’s national leaders reached its zenith when the BJD backed BJP’s Railway Minister candidate Ashwini Vaishnaw in the recently concluded Rajya Sabha elections.
Prime Minister Modi, who addressed a public meeting on February 3, also made no negative comments on the BJD or its leader Patnaik.
BJD leaders discuss alliance
Meanwhile, the BJD leaders also held a meeting for over three hours at Naveen Niwas, CM Naveen Patnaik’s residence, in Bhubaneswar. BJD vice-president and MLA Debi Prasad Mishra acknowledged that discussions were taking place over a possible alliance with the BJP, but did not explicitly say whether a decision has been taken.
“Biju Janata Dal will give priority to the larger interests of the people of Odisha. Yes, there were discussions on the issue (alliance),” Mishra told reporters.
Odisha has made significant progress under the leadership of Naveen Patnaik and there is a need to take the development of the state to the next level, he said.
A press release issued by Mishra and BJD’s senior general secretary Arun Kumar Sahoo said: “A comprehensive discussion led by BJD President and CM Naveen Patnaik was held today with the party’s senior leaders on the strategy of the upcoming Lok Sabha and Vidhan sabha. elections.”
(With PTI inputs)