Impasse over BJP-BJD ties continues

The impasse over the proposed Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance continued on Wednesday, amid the unconfirmed reports that a crucial meeting of BJP leaders took place at Union home minister Amit Shah’s New Delhi residence to thrash out the roadblocks, which among others, included the contentious seat-sharing arrangements.

However, no concrete decisions could be taken at the meeting as to what would be the seat-sharing layouts with the Odisha’s regional party, the reports added.

The BJD is bent on fighting from 100-plus Assembly seats, while the BJP wants the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD to contest from less than 100 seats. Both the parties have also not reached a consensus on sharing of the Lok Sabha seats. Of the 21 Lok Sabha seats, the BJP is bent on fighting from 14 seats, a demand which the BJD appears to be in no mood to concede.

The strange alliance bid by the BJD and BJP has now caught the attention of the entire nation as people are curiously trying to understand how the two key rivals —the ruling BJD and key rival BJP — are entering into a coalition, allowing the diminutive Congress to grab the main opposition space in the state.

Since 2009, when the BJD president and Odisha chief minister ousted the BJP out of an 11-year-old coalition by dubbing the latter as “communal,” the saffron party was breathing fire against the former. However, the political equations have suddenly changed in the state after the two friends-turned foes decided to re-enter into an alliance to help Prime Minister Narendra Modi realise his dream to get more than 400 Lok Sabha seats.

In the 2019 general elections, the BJD had bagged 12 Lok Sabha seats while the BJP got 12.

Neither the BJD nor the BJP leaders have yet come out with clarification as to why both of them are eager to forge an alliance.

◗ THE BJD is bent on fighting from 100-plus Assembly seats, while the BJP wants it to contest from less than 100 seats. Both the parties have also not reached a consensus on sharing of the Lok Sabha seats.