E-Paper
No alliance with BJD in Odisha, BJP 'concerned' Modi's schemes not reaching ground
BJP says no to BJD ahead of Lok Sabha election. The BJP will also contest the assembly election alone, the state unit announced.
The BJP will contest alone in the Lok Sabha and the assembly election in Odisha without going into any alliance with Naveen Patnaik's BJD. BJP Odisha president Manmohan Samal announced on X that there will be no BJP-BJD alliance. The announcement came after days of speculations over a possibility of alliance as the BJP is looking to increase its numbers in Odisha. Union home minister Amit Shah on Thursday said the decision was yet to be taken.
Number Theory: What will a BJP-BJD alliance mean in Odisha?
"For the last 10 years, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) party of Odisha, under the leadership of Shri Naveen Patnaik ji, has been supporting the Government of the Honorable Prime Minister of the Center Shri Narendra Modi ji in many matters of national importance, for this we express our gratitude to him. Experience has shown that wherever there has been a double-engine government across the country, development and welfare work has accelerated and the state has progressed in every field. But today, many welfare schemes of Modi government are not reaching the ground in Odisha due to which the poor sisters and brothers of Odisha are not getting their benefits. We have concerns on many issues related to Odisha-identity, Odisha-pride and the interest of the people of Odisha," the state BJP president wrote explaining why the talks yielded no BJP-BJD alliance.
"To fulfill the hopes, wishes and aspirations of 4.5 crore people of Odisha, under the visionary leadership of the Honorable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi, to make a developed India and developed Odisha, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will win all the 21 seats of the Lok Sabha and all the 147 seats of the Legislative Assembly. BJP will contest the seats alone," the statement read.
BJD reacted to the announcement and said it would go to the polls with the support of Odisha's people and the blessing of Lord Jagannath. “With the blessings of Lord Jagannatha and the faith of people of Odisha, BJD has been serving the state and transforming it like never before in every sector. BJD will contest in all 147 assembly constituencies and all 21 Lok Sabha constituencies with the support of people of Odisha and win more than three fourth seats under the leadership of Shri Naveen Patnaik. BJD will continue to take decisions keeping people of Odisha in the forefront always and their welfare in true sprit of cooperative federalism and statesmanship required for nation building,” BJD MLA Pranab Prakash Das posted on X.
BJD was hopeful of an alliance as chief minister Naveen Patnaik's aide VK Pandian recently said that the talks between BJP and the BJD were beyond politics as neither Modi nor Patnaik needed an alliance to get re-elected.
The BJP and the BJD parted ways in 2009 after being in an alliance for over 10 years from 1998 to 2009.
