2024 Election: All Eyes On BJD-BJP Seat-Sharing Pact Amid Alliance Talks In Odisha

Bhubaneswar: A day after BJP and BJD held parallel meetings, deliberating at their own levels to smoothen rough edges in the possible alliance ahead of the twin elections, speculation is rife about the probable seat-sharing deal between the two parties.

The alliance is likely to be announced on March 8, exactly 15 years from the day BJD president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik severed ties with the BJP ahead of the 2009 polls.

Keen on keeping its dominance and strength in the Odisha Assembly, the BJD is seeking to contest from 112 seats in the upcoming election while offering the remaining 35 to BJP. The saffron party, in turn, is pushing for 14 of the 21 Lok Sabha seats in the state but the BJD is ready to concede only 10. The finer details are being worked out, sources said.

A big indication of the possible tie-up had come on Wednesday when BJP’s core committee for Odisha restricted its deliberations for selection of nominees to 14 of the 21 seats in the state.

The BJD and the BJP were in alliance for around 11 years and fought three Lok Sabha and two Vidhan Sabha elections between 1998 and 2009. In 1998 when the Janata Dal was split, Naveen formed his own party and joined the Vajpayee-led BJP government, as Union Minister for Steel and Mines. The two fought Assembly polls together for the first time in 2000. Earlier, the seat sharing ratio between BJD and BJP was 4:3. While BJD contested 84 Assembly and 12 Lok Sabha seats, the BJP fought in 63 Assembly and 9 Lok Sabha seats.

The alliance won 17 of 21 seats in the 1998 general elections with a 48.7 per cent vote share. They bettered their tally to 19 seats in 1999, which slightly came down to 18 in 2004. By renewing ties with the BJD, the BJP could be eyeing to sweep all 21 seats in the 2024 elections in Odisha.

During his last visit to Odisha’s Chandikhol on Tuesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi indicated that Odisha will play a significant role in achieving the NDA’s target of 400 seats in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Following a three-hour-long meeting at Naveen Niwas here on Wednesday, party’s vice-president and MLA Debi Prasad Mishra told reporters the BJD will “prioritise the greater interests of the people of Odisha”. He also acknowledged that there were discussions about a possible alliance with the BJP.

Senior BJP leader and former Union minister Jual Oram, who attended the party meeting in New Delhi, also hinted there were discussions about the alliance in the meeting. “Since the BJP is a national political party, the final decision lies with the central leadership. Whatever decision the central leadership takes, it will be binding for all,” he told reporters in Delhi.

Significantly, the 2019 Lok Sabha election results returned a seat tally of 12 for the BJD and 9 for the BJP, eight more than the 2014 general election. BJD candidates won 111 of the 146 assembly seats that went to polls and BJP 23. In 2014 polls, BJD had bagged 117 of the total 147 assembly seats and 20 of the 21 Lok Sabha seats.