BJP-BJD Alliance Talks Hit Hurdles Over Seat Sharing

Talks on the alliance between Odisha’s ruling BJD and opposition BJP hit hurdles, as unanimity over the seat sharing cannot be reached, leaders of both parties said on Friday.

Assembly and Lok Sabha elections are held simultaneously in the state.

While the BJD sought to contest from over 100 seats in the 147-member Odisha Assembly, it is not acceptable to the BJP, sources in the saffron camp claimed.

In the outgoing assembly, the regional party has 114 members and, initially, it has demanded 112 seats during talks with the BJP.

“The BJD is demanding about 75 per cent of the assembly seats which is not accepted by us,” a senior BJP leader said adding that such a situation would adversely affect the prospect of the saffron party in the state.

The BJP, on the other hand, sought 14 of the 21 Lok Sabha seats in Odisha which has been rejected by the BJD.

In the 2019 general elections, the BJD had won 12 seats while the BJP won eight.

“It would be suicidal for us if we contest in less than 10 LS seats,” a senior BJD leader said.

BJD president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s close aides – 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.

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.

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.

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 percent vote share. The alliance again bettered their tally to 19 seats in 1999, which slightly came down to 18 in 2004.

Source: PTI