Leaders of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the BJP held separate meetings in Bhubaneswar and New Delhi on Wednesday to discuss the possibility of an alliance in Odisha where the two parties ran a coalition government for nearly nine years from 2000.
However, a formal announcement on a possible alliance is yet to be made with a mutually acceptable seat-sharing formula still in the works.
Senior Odisha BJP leaders, including state president Manmohan Samal, were summoned to Delhi by the party high command to discuss the possibility of a tie-up. In Bhubaneswar, BJD leaders met chief minister and party boss Naveen Patnaik at his home.
Following the meeting at Naveen Nivas, senior BJD leader Debi Prasad Mishra told reporters that the possibility of an alliance was among the issues discussed. “Odisha will complete 100 years of statehood 12 years from now. The chief minister has set a development agenda and the BJD will do everything possible in the larger interest of the state.”
Asked whether there was any discussion on the issue of alliance, Mishra said the matter was discussed, but did not share any details. Another BJD leader, former minister Arun Sahu, said: “The party chief will take the right decision at the right time in the larger interest of the state.”
Talking to reporters in Delhi, BJP Lok Sabha member from Sundergarh and former Union minister Jual Oram said: “Discussions were held on election-related issues. We want to contest the election on our own on all the 147 Assembly seats and 21 Lok Sabha seats of Odisha. However, the party chief will take a call on the issue. We will abide by the decision.”
Sources said an announcement on an alliance could be made once the seat-sharing formula is finalised. The BJP is said to be demanding 15 Lok Sabha seats, which the BJD is not willing to concede. The BJP also wants more than 50 Assembly seats, but Naveen’s party is said to have reservations about such a demand.
At present, the BJD has 112 seats in the 147-member Assembly while the BJP has 22 seats and the Congress 9. The BJD has 12 Lok Sabha seats against 8 held by the BJP and 1 by the Congress.
The talk about a possible alliance between the BJD and the BJP, which were coalition partners in Odisha from 2000 to 2009 before falling out over seat-sharing, had gained momentum following the visit of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the state on February 3 during which he described Naveen as his “param mitra” (fast friend). The BJD and the BJP have been rivals in state politics since 2009 when their alliance broke in the wake of the 2008 communal riots in Kandhamal.
Before the collapse of the alliance, the BJD and BJP had a seat-sharing equation of 4:3. While the BJD contested 84 Assembly and 12 Lok Sabha seats in the state, the BJP fought from 63 Assembly and 9 Lok Sabha seats.
