V K Pandian Fears BJP May Split BJD Post-Poll, Reveals Why Number 9 Is Special

Bhubaneswar: While claiming that the BJD will sweep the upcoming elections, party leader and 5T chairman V K Pandian on Wednesday took a dig at the BJP and its poll strategy for Odisha.

“The BJP struggled to put up candidates in at least 60 Assembly segments. It not fighting to win the elections but to win a few more seats. They are eyeing 50 to 60 seats and thereafter they will try to break the BJD like they did with other parties in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka. That’s the strategy they are working internally,” he told a presser in Gopalpur.

Pandian said that BJP national leaders had also campaigned in 2014 and 2019 but had little impact on the poll results. “People of Odisha trust Naveen Patnaik more and had given a befitting reply to them in the past. On one side is Naveen Babu and on the other the vast army of the opposition. The results will be same this time too and Naveen babu will take oath as the CM for the sixth term on June 9,” he said.

He also revealed the importance of the number 9 for the party, which had also declared Lok Sabha candidates in slots of nine each. “It is not superstition but based on scriptures. You can google to understand the importance of 9 in Hinduism. We feel it brings more blessings to Naveen babu,” he said.

The first list of of its MLA candidates also had 72 names (7+2) and it was announced on March 27 (2+7).

The BJD leader said that the party will sweep the first round elections in Odisha on May 13 and also improve its tally. “In undivided Koraput district, the fight is mostly against Congress. In Kalahandi, Congress has some presence in 2-3 segments. Ganjam will witness one-sided fight as people have much faith in the CM and love him dearly. The BJD will sweep all four rounds of the elections,” he asserted.

“The 2024 BJD campaign is being led by Naveen babu. This election is by Naveen babu, for Naveen babu and of Naveen babu. We are all in his team and fighting to take Odisha forward. Some will play forward, some in the centre, some at the back…But every player is important including the last worker of the Biju Pariwar,” he added.