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Naveen Patnaik’s Delhi visit triggers speculation of support for NDA presidential nominee
The Odisha CM’s visit has assumed significance considering that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government is about 1.2 per cent away from the total votes it needs for its candidate to win.
Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik left for Delhi on Monday afternoon on a three-day visit amid speculations that he would be meeting senior NDA ministers to extend his party’s support to BJP’s Presidential candidate. The election for the new President of India is scheduled in July this year.
Patnaik who took a chartered flight from the Biju Patnaik airport in Bhubaneswar is scheduled to attend the BBC Sports Woman of the Year Award ceremony in Delhi on Monday evening.
On Tuesday, he is scheduled to hold a meeting with BJD MPs in Parliament where he will also spend time in the Central Hall to interact with leaders of other parties including the BJP. He is also likely to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other senior BJP ministers individually and take up state issues.
Patnaik had last visited Delhi in September 2021 to attend a meeting of chief ministers of Maoist-hit states convened by Union home minister Amit Shah.
BJD MP Pinaki Mishra said Patnaik’s schedule of meeting leaders of other parties is not clear yet, however BJD insiders indicated that the chief minister would meet leaders of both BJP as well as opposition parties.
The Odisha CM’s visit has assumed significance considering that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government is about 1.2 per cent away from the total votes it needs for its candidate to win.
BJP’s numbers in Uttar Pradesh and the Uttarakhand legislative assembly elections have come down and that has led to a fall in vote-share. In UP assembly, BJP’s number has dipped from 312 to 255 between 2017 and 2022. In the current assembly, BJP’s allies have 17 members taking the total to 273.
So, the support of the Biju Janata Dal and YSR Congress Party will be crucial for the BJP. With 112 MLAs and 21 MPs in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Patnaik controls 23,072 votes which would be more than enough for the NDA candidate to win.
People aware of the matter said that Patnaik is likely to hold discussions with BJP leaders about getting one of the 4 Rajya Sabha seats that are going to fall vacant. While 3 seats are going to be vacant on July 1, the seat held by Subas Singh will fall vacant after he resigns from the membership following his election as Mayor of the Cuttack Municipal Corporation.
