BJD to go solo in 2024, won’t be a part of Opposition front, says Naveen Patnaik

Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik, who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said his party’s policy of contesting elections alone would continue.

Updated on: May 12, 2023, 03:36:05 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty, Bhubaneswar

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Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday clarified that his Biju Janata Dal (BJD) will not be part of an opposition third front, which is being proposed to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik during a meeting in New Delhi on Thursday. (PTI)

Patnaik, who met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi on Thursday, said his party’s policy of contesting elections alone would continue.

“There is no possibility of a ‘third front’ as far as I am concerned. Not now,” Patnaik told reporters after meeting Modi. “BJD will fight the 2024 elections on its own. That has been always been the policy of BJD.”

Patnaik, whose party has offered support to the BJP on various issues in the past, said his meeting with the Prime Minister was to discuss “issues related to Odisha”.

Read | No possibility of third front as far as I am concerned: Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik

“My discussions were mainly related to Odisha’s demands and the international airport proposed in Puri. As the (air) traffic at Bhubaneswar international airport is becoming more, we talked about the proposed Puri airport,” said Patnaik, the longest-serving chief minister of Odisha. “PM said he will definitely help in every way possible.”

Talks of the BJD contemplating joining a united opposition front started doing the rounds since Patnaik met Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar on Tuesday. However, both leaders played down the meeting as a “courtesy call”.

“Ours is a known friendship, and we were colleagues many years ago. No discussion was held on any alliances,” Patnaik had said after meeting his Bihar counterpart.

Nitish Kumar cited his “very old relation” with the Odisha CM and his late father Biju Patnaik, and said: “Due to the Covid pandemic, we could not meet. No political discussions were held. We have good relations and there is no need to discuss any politics.”

In a bid to get all opposition parties on board to project a unified fight against the BJP, Kumar has met Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and party leader Rahul Gandhi, Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Bannerjee, and Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren in the past two months.

Political observers said the politics of “equidistance” has served Patnaik well in his over two-decades stint as the Odisha CM.

Rabi Das, a Bhubaneswar-based political analyst said, “He is happy being the CM of Odisha and has time and again made clear his political ambition does not lie in national politics. At the same time, he does not want to be politically isolated and thus hedging his political bets by meeting opposition CMs in case the tide turns against BJP in 2024 polls.”

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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