The talks regarding a formal alliance between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Biju Janata Dal seem to have stalled, with two senior leaders from the saffron party publicly stating their lack of awareness about any such negotiations.
A day after State BJP President Manmohan Samal said he had no information about discussion on alliance, Vijaypal Singh Tomar, co-in charge of Odisha unit of the BJP, on Saturday said, “As per our knowledge, we are busy preparing to fight elections in all seats. If any alliance is happening, we should be first consulted. As of now, there is no such development on this.”
“In New Delhi, we discussed with the State leadership about fight elections in all seats. We are confident of winning more than 89 out of 147 seats in assembly and 16 Lok Sabha seats in Odisha. I have been telling this since beginning,” Mr. Tomar said.
When asked if negotiations on the alliance were in an advanced stage, the senior BJP leader said, “I have no information regarding it. Please ask the persons who are spreading news about the alliance. We are currently preparing for election. There was news that a meeting was held in my residence. But, no such meeting had taken place.”
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With regards to candidature of Aparajita Sarangi from Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha seat and Sambit Patra from Puri, the BJP co-in charge said they continued be party’s choice for the two seats.
Mr. Tomar said he was ignorant about two key BJD leaders meeting the BJP’s top leadership in New Delhi to take the alliance negotiation forward. “Had there been any such move, we should have been at least informed,” he said.
On return from New Delhi on Friday evening, the State BJP President said, “We will form government in Odisha and at Centre by winning 400 Lok Sabha seats in the country. This was what had been discussed in New Delhi.” Later, he posted the same view on X (formerly Twitter). Ms. Sarangi reposted the post indicating that she was in favour of going alone.
For a week now, there have been hectic discussions about a potential alliance between the BJP and the BJD. Many key leaders of the regional party had recently met at the residence of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to discuss the pros and cons of the alliance in detail.
After the meeting, Debi Prasad Mishra, senior vice president of the BJD, confirmed about discussion on alliance. Mr. Mishra also issued a statement saying the BJD would do whatever was required to be done to protect interests of Odisha, which is going to complete 100 years of formation in 2036. However, the talks have slowed down due to last minute disagreements over sharing of certain seats.
