Odisha BJP chief denies any alliance with BJD for Lok Sabha and Assembly polls

Odisha BJP president Manmohan Samal said the party will not enter into any alliance with the BJD and that it will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha and state assembly elections alone

Published on: Mar 2, 2024, 14:32:44 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty

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Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Odisha state president Manmohan Samal on Friday ruled out speculations over a possible alliance with the state’s ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) for the upcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly polls.

Odisha chief minister Naveen Patanik (right) with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. (File Photo)

Samal, who was in Delhi to discuss with the central leadership about the candidates for the 21 Lok Sabha seats and 147 assembly seats in the state, said the BJP will not enter into any alliance with the BJD and will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha and state assembly elections alone.

“We will fight independently and try to form the government on our own,” said Samal.

The two parties, who were alliance partners till 2009, called off their partnership just before the Assembly polls that year over the 2008 Kandhamal riots.

On Friday, BJP’s election co-in-charge for the state, Lata Usendi triggered speculations as she refused to deny the possibility of an alliance between the two parties. Usendi said that there would be a “double engine” government in Odisha.

The speculation got fillip after it was announced that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would visit Odisha on March 5 coinciding with the birth anniversary of former chief minister Biju Patnaik. The BJD, which has been demanding Bharat Ratna for Patnaik over the last decade, intensified its campaign for granting the highest civilian honour to him last month after the Centre announced the award for Karpoori Thakur, LK Advani, MS Swaminathan, Choudhury Charan Singh and PV Narasimha Rao.

Last month, PM Modi had referred to Naveen Patnaik as his friend in a public meeting in Sambalpur last month. The BJD, on its part, announced support to the candidature of Union railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw for the Rajya Sabha poll.

A senior BJP leader said some sort of discussions had taken place over possible alliance, but there seemed to be a stalemate.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More

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