No stop sign yet,but BJP-BJD alliance may have foot on brake

That the alliance was on the rocks was evident when both the parties fought against each other in the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation election held in December last year. To the BJP’s dismay,the BJD had a decisive win,emboldening Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to repeat the fight-alone formula in the Cuttack Municipal Corporation election,due to be held in February this year.

While both parties have refrained from making any overt announcements about a break in the alliance,certain leaders have dropped broad hints. Earlier this week,the BJD’s Rajya Sabha MP and Naveen’s chief political advisor Pyari Mohan Mohapatra told a meeting in Titlagarh town that the regional party had hopes of winning all the 147 Assembly seats and 21 Lok Sabha seats. Mohapatra,who plays a key role in deciding the electoral politics of the BJD,said politics are never static. “Political equations are always dynamic,” he told reporters at the meeting.

Other senior BJD leaders say they are convinced that the party will go it alone,although they declined to be named. “The Chief Minister is upset over the way he was hauled through the coals by BJP and other saffron partners in the aftermath of the murder of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati. He is also facing national and international embarrassment over his alliance with the BJP after the Kandhamal riots. His image is getting tarnished,” a leader said.

BJD sources say Naveen is livid over the way VHP boss Ashok Singhal challenged him during a press conference on September 9by asking him to decide whether he wanted to be “on the side of Hindus and return to power or be politically doomed”.

The BJD chief has made his displeasure clear. Over the last two months,he has been touring the state to publicise the achievements of his government,but has pointedly neglected to involve any local BJP leader in his endeavor.

For over a month,he has also been excusing himself from any seat-sharing talks with the BJP — be it in Orissa or New Delhi. He has roundly rebuffed BJP’s Orissa core committee,as well as the saffron party’s poll campaign committee chief Venkaiah Naidu’s suggestion for a meeting on seat sharing. BJD sources say if at all seat-sharing takes place,Naveen would demand more than 110 seats in the Assembly pointing towards the less-than-impressive performance of BJP in the last few polls and the “erosion in vote base” of the party.

On the other hand,the BJP has also sent signals that it is willing to strike out on its own strength,and is preparing a list of 147 potential candidates for the Assembly polls. It has stopped short,however,of confirming any plans to break away.

“We would not like to be blamed for breaking the alliance. But we have formulated our strategy and it’s up to the central leadership to take a decision,” said Kharabela Swain,senior BJP MP and a member of the party’s election core committee.

Meanwhile,another senior BJP leader and a member of the party’s core committee,said,“Come what may,some things are non-negotiable. We had enough of being the B-team of Naveen Patnaik and certainly don’t want to continue this charade a minute longer.”