Uncertainty Looms Over Alliance With BJD: Manmohan Samal Says BJP Will Form Govt In Odisha Alone

Bhubaneswar: Throwing cold water over discussions of a possible BJD-BJP alliance for the upcoming twin elections in Odisha, state BJP president Manmohan Samal on Thursday reiterated that the saffron party would go alone in the polls and form the government in the state.

“BJP will form the government in Odisha and the 2024 elections will be fought over the state’s asmita and swabhiman (pride),” he told reporters.

When grilled further on the alliance with BJD, he said: “Had that been the case, I would not have said that BJP will form government in Odisha. The saffron party will form government with the blessings of the people of the state.”

Samal returned from Delhi this morning.

Reports, however, said that the final call on the possible electoral tie-up will be taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the meeting of BJP top brass in the evening.

The alliance talks had gathered steam after the Odisha BJP leaders were again summoned to the national capital on March 10 evening. After several rounds of discussions over three days with Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who was reportedly tasked by the BJP top brass to instil clarity in the minds of the state leaders, Samal along with organising secretary Manas Mohanty, Odisha election in-charge Vijay Pal Singh Tomar and his deputy Lata Usendi, had a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah at the latter’s residence on Wednesday night. This was seen as a last-ditch attempt to convince the state leaders to jointly work with the BJD in the better interests of the saffron party, sources said.

The delay in sealing the deal, which has been in the works for the past few weeks, was primarily being attributed to reluctance of the BJP’s Odisha leaders for a pact with the BJD, which had dumped the saffron party ahead of 2009 elections after a 11-year alliance.

The BJP, sources said, is confident of nearly doubling its tally from Odisha in Lok Sabha and Assembly in 2024 elections. In 2019, it won 8 MP and 23 MLA seats.

The central leadership, however, is eying for an alliance in Odisha to achieve its ambitious target of 400 plus seats for NDA in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Meanwhile, the BJD has convened a meeting of senior party leaders at Naveen Niwas, the residence of party president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, at 4.30 pm. They had earlier met for over 3 hours on March 6, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Odisha. BJD vice-president and MLA Debi Prasad Mishra had then acknowledged discussions about a possible alliance with the BJP and said that the party will “prioritise the greater interests of the people of Odisha”.