Bhubaneswar: Former MP and Utkala Bharat president Kharavela Swain on Sunday said he was willing to contest the ensuing Assembly elections as a BJP candidate if the party makes him an offer.
Talking to journalists here, Swain said his party and the BJP had a tie-up during the last elections in 2014. “At that time, I had apprised BJP leaders of my intention to contest the polls on a BJP ticket,” Swain said. “Of the seven elections I have contested so far, six were as a BJP candidate.”
Asked if he will join the BJP if senior party leaders make him an offer, Swain said: “I think I will.”
He said he had made it clear to the BJP’s Odisha prabhari, Arun Singh, that he was ready for a tie-up with the BJP and, if necessary, ready to contest as a BJP candidate to unseat the BJD government in the state.
