“There Was No Talk On Alliance” With BJD; BJP To Go Solo In Odisha

The ongoing talks of pre-poll alliance between BJP and Odisha’s ruling Biju Janat dal (BJD) seems to hit a roadblock. Reportedly, talks between the two party, which took place in Delhi failed to resolve difference over important constituencies, – Bhubaneswar and Puri, which lead to an unexpected stand-off between the parties.

After returning to Bhubaneswar, BJP state president Manmohan Samal, along with other senior leaders hinted that the possibility the party giving tickets to all 147 candidates and 21 Lok Sabha constituencies of Odisha. He stated that the discussions in Delhi were solely focused on the Preparations of the upcoming elections. However, he did not mentioned seat sharing or forming an alliance.

News agency PTI quoted Samal as saying, “there was no talk on alliance and we (BJP) will go to polls alone…we had gone to Delhi to hold discussions with the central leaders on our preparations for the upcoming Lok Sabha and assembly elections in the state. No talks on alliance or seat-sharing with any party were held during the meeting. The BJP will contest the twin polls on its own strength”.

BJD departed from BJP led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) 15 years ago after 11 years of understanding between the parties.

According to NDTV, the primary setback in the pre-poll alliance was the seat sharing talks. Apparently BJD demanded to contest over 100 seats in the 147 seats of Odisha Assembly, which was found unacceptable by the BJP. On the other hand, BJP sought for 12 of the 21 Lok Sabha seats in Odisha, which was rejected by BJD. The talks of alliance fall as both parties stood firm on the seat sharing. During the 2019 general election, BJD won 12 seats while BJP won eight seats from the total 21 Lok Sabha seats of Odisha.

BJD and BJP had an alliance of 11 years from 1998 to 2009. They contested three Lok Sabha and two Assembly elections together. However, in 2009, the parties departed after a failed seat sharing talks. Allegedly, BJD asked for a reduction in the BJP’s share in assemble seats from 63 to 40, and parliamentary seats from nine to six, which was deemed as unreasonable by the BJP. This led to the withdrawal of support given to the Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik’s government, ending 11 years of political marriage. BJD called the withdrawal of support as “act of betrayal”.