No Pact Between BJP & BJD: Javadekar

Bhubaneswar: Dismissing the rumours about a secret pact between the BJP and the BJD, Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar on Sunday said that the saffron party will fight next elections alone.

There have been speculation about the same after the ruling regional party supported the NDA-backed candidate in the election for the Rajya Sabha deputy chairman’s post earlier this week.

“BJD and many other political parties supported BJP during Rajya Sabha deputy chairman election, but there is no alliance and they are not part of the NDA,” Javadekar, who is on a three-day visit to the state, told mediapersons here.

The regional party’s support to the NDA candidate will have no impact on the BJP cadres in Odisha, he added.

However, senior BJP leader Bijay Mohapatra earlier on Saturday had said that the intimacy between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJD president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will have an adverse effect on the saffron party in Odisha in the forthcoming elections.

‘Considering the fact that the state BJP which has been criticizing the state government, the sudden change in its stand towards the BJD will be seriously examined by the people of the state. How come you seek support from a party in the morning and then speak against it in the evening? Will the people believe you? You cannot blow hot and cold in the same breath,” Mohapatra told mediapersons here.

Hinting at the ‘serene bonhomie’ between the BJD and the BJP, Congress state president Niranjan Patnaik had claimed that it is the only opposition party in Odisha. “To hoodwink the people, the BJD cleverly raises its time-honoured ‘central apathy’ slogan while the saffron party criticizes the ruling regional party at regular intervals. However, on important matters, both the parties have come together on several occasions in the past,” he had said.

Besides the RS election, he had cited the recent walk-out by the BJD during the discussion on no-confidence motion brought against the BJP-led NDA government in Parliament on July 20, to prove his contention.

Taking a swipe at the Congress for attacking the BJD for its role in the election, Javadekar said the losers’ scorn is pure sour grapes. He is scheduled to attend a party meeting in Berhampur on Monday.