Cong Fires ‘Secret BJD-BJP Deal’ Salvo Before Assembly Session

Bhubaneswar: The BJD’s decision to support BJP candidate and former bureaucrat Ashwini Vaishnav in the forthcoming Rajya Sabha by-elections after backing its nominee for Lok Sabha Speaker, Om Birla, has the Congress crying of a “secret nexus” between the two.

Taking a dig at this “mutual understanding” between the BJD and the BJP, Congress leader Narasingha Mishra on Sunday said his party might have to play the role of main Opposition party in the first session of the 16th Odisha Assembly, which will commence from June 25.

“Though greater in strength, the BJP might fail to take up the responsibility of a true Opposition because of their pact with the BJD,”Narasingha said. “But the Congress will raise issues of unemployment, crop damage due to Nor’wester rain and other problems faced by farmers despite having fewer number of legislators.”

In the 147-member Assembly, the BJD has 111 MLAs, the BJP 36 and the Congress 9. Responding to Narasingha’s statement, BJD MLA Sashi Bhusan Behera questioned the rationale behind this allegation. “Did the BJD win polls for the fifth consecutive term because of a deal with the BJP? The Congress should let go of its obsession with the BJD and instead try to find reasons for its poor show in the polls, being reduced to third position in the state,” he said.

Reiterating that there was no secret pact between the BJP and the BJD, he said: “There should be no politics over constitutional posts.”

Earlier in the day, Union minister and BJP leader Dharmendra Pradhan had also rubbished talks of a “secret pact” between the two parties and stressed on the need for “mutual understanding” in a democracy.

However, the growing bonhomie between the BJD and the BJP after a bitter electoral battle was evident even before the results of the 2019 elections were declared. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had praised Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s handling of Cyclone Fani after conducting an aerial survey to assess the loss and destruction caused by the storm on May 6. Ten days later, on May 16, Amit Shah eulogised the BJD chief for maintaining peace during elections in Odisha, while drawing parallels with the violence in Kolkata during his roadshow and in other non-BJP-ruled states. Naveen was the only Opposition leader he chose to refer by name.