The BJD and the BJP were in alliance for around 11 years between 1998 and 2009 and fought three Lok Sabha and two Assembly elections together.
Lok Sabha Elections 2024: The alliance talks between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Odisha’s ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) have broken down as both parties failed to arrive at a consensus on seat-sharing arrangement between them in the upcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, which are held simultaneously in the state.
Leaders of both parties said Friday that alliance talks have hit a roadblock as as unanimity over the seat sharing cannot be reached.
BJD demands over 100 seats in Odisha state polls
Citing BJP sources, a PTI report said the BJP sought to contest from over 100 seats in the 147-member Odisha Assembly, which the saffron party leadership found highly unacceptable as it would hamper the party’s growth in the state.
The BJD has 114 members in the outgoing Odisha assembly, and initially, it has demanded 112 seats during talks with the BJP, the sources said.
“The BJD is demanding about 75 per cent of the assembly seats which is not accepted by us,” said a senior BJP leader adding that such a situation would adversely affect the future prospects of the saffron party in the state.
BJP wants 14 LS seats
On the other hand, the BJP has sought 14 of the 21 Lok Sabha seats in Odisha, a proposal rejected by the BJD, which had won 12 seats in the 2019 general elections while the BJP emerged victorious in eight constituencies.
“It would be suicidal for us if we contest in less than 10 LS seats,” a senior BJD leader said, according to PTI.
Pandian, Das fly back to Odisha
Close aides of BJD president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik – V K Pandian and Pranab Prakash Das – who had rushed to Delhi in a chartered flight on Thursday evening to hold talks with the BJP leadership, have returned on Friday afternoon, the PTI report said.
Both Pandian and Das attended a function observing Women International Day at the BJD headquarters, but remained silent over their discussion with BJP top brass in Delhi on Thursday night.
No decision on alliance: Odisha BJP
The Odisha BJP leaders led by its state president Manmohan Samal continued to stay in Delhi and held marathon meetings with several central leaders at the residence of state election in-charge and Rajya Sabha MP Vijay Pal Singh Tomar.
Odisha BJP general secretary Prithviraj Harichandan said, “No decision on the alliance was taken till this afternoon.”
BJP state president Samal on March 1 had said that the party would field candidates in all 147 assembly segments and 21 LS seats.
However, the situation changed a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the state on March 5 following which the alliance talks dominated the state politics.
The BJD has meanwhile indicated that it would do everything, including forging an alliance, for the interest of the state and its people.
BJP-BJD alliance rumours
There have been strong rumours floating amongst political circle about a possible BJP-BJD alliance which were fanned further after Prime Minister Modi and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik publicly praised each other on several occasions, most recently during Modi’s rally in the state on Tuesday.
Notably, the BJP and the BJD have been allies in the past too and the regional party has been mostly supportive of the Modi government’s agenda in Parliament.
The BJD and the BJP were in alliance for around 11 years between 1998 and 2009 and fought three Lok Sabha and two Assembly elections together.
When Janata Dal was split in 1998, Patnaik formed his own party and joined the Vajpayee-led BJP government, as the steel and mines minister.
The two parties fought Assembly polls together for the first time in 2000 and again in 2004.
Earlier, the seat sharing ratio between BJD and BJP was 4:3. While BJD contested 84 Assembly and 12 Lok Sabha seats, the BJP fought in 63 Assembly and 9 Lok Sabha seats.
The alliance won 17 of 21 seats in the 1998 general elections with a 48.7 per cent vote share. The alliance again bettered their tally to 19 seats in 1999, which slightly came down to 18 in 2004.
(With PTI inputs)
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