'Will fight alone': Odisha BJP hints at contesting LS, state polls on its own as seat sharing talks with BJD hit hurdles

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha BJP has said it may field candidates in all the 147 assembly and 21 Lok Sabha constituencies of the state apparently after its pre-poll alliance and seat sharing talks with the BJD in Delhi remained inconclusive.

BJP state president Manmohan Samal, who along with other senior leaders of the party returned to Bhubaneswar from the national capital on Friday evening, said, "There was no talk on alliance and we (BJP) will go to polls alone."

Samal said, "We had gone to Delhi to hold discussions with the central leaders on our preparations for the upcoming Lok Sabha and assembly elections in the state. No talks on alliance or seat-sharing with any party were held during the meeting."

Samal also claimed that the Odisha BJP was confident of winning both the polls. "The BJP will contest the twin polls on its own strength," he said.

BJD leaders VK Pandian and Pranab Prakash Das, who had rushed to Delhi in a chartered flight on Thursday evening to discuss pre-poll alliance issues with BJP central leaders, also returned to Bhubaneswar. Upon their return, they maintained silence regarding the outcome of their discussions.

Sources, however, said the alliance talks between Odisha’s ruling BJD and opposition BJP hit hurdles over seat sharing.

Though both the parties have mutually agreed for a pre-poll alliance, there was difference over seat sharing. While the BJD sought to contest from over 100 seats in the 147-member Odisha Assembly, it was not acceptable to the BJP, sources in the saffron camp claimed.

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

"The BJD is demanding about 75 per cent of the assembly seats which is not acceptable to us," a senior BJP leader said, adding 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.

Odisha BJP leaders led by Samal stayed in Delhi for three days and held marathon meetings with several central leaders at the residence of state election in-charge and Rajya Sabha MP Vijay Pal Singh Tomar.

Two days ago, former Union minister and BJP MP Jual Oram, after attending a meeting at Tomar’s residence, had said there was discussion on the alliance with BJD, but nothing was finalised.

Meanwhile, Odisha BJP general secretary Prithviraj Harichandan said, "No decision on the alliance was taken till this afternoon."

Though a section of Odisha BJP leaders are opposed to the alliance with BJD, the situation, however, changed a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the state on March 5 following which the alliance talks dominated 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.

Both the parties 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 per cent vote share. The alliance again bettered their tally to 19 seats in 1999, which slightly came down to 18 in 2004.