BJP rules out alliance with Patnaik, steps up for ‘big battle’ with BJD in 2024 polls

“The BJP’s state observer Sunil Bansal clearly said that there is no possibility of any alliance or understanding with the BJD in Odisha. An impression is being created intentionally about an alliance. The BJP will fight aggressively on its own strength… the central leaders have told us to be ready for the big battle,” BJP national spokesperson and Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi told reporters.

Apart from Bansal, party’s co-observer Vijay Pal Singh Tomar was also present in the meeting.

On Friday, the BJP’s national general secretary in charge of organisation B L Santosh also held marathon meetings with senior state party leaders to discuss the roadmap for the coming polls.

The BJP leaders, who were part of the meeting, said the party will launch against the BJD an all-out electoral blitz, led by its central leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and other Union ministers.

Even though the BJP is the principal Opposition party in Odisha, but at the Centre, the leaderships of the two parties enjoy cordial relations. The BJD extended its support to the Modi government on several issues, including during the passage of crucial Bills in Parliament. Shah hailed CM Patnaik as a “popular” CM during his visit to the state in August. Patnaik also praised PM Modi’s work by giving him a rating of 8 out of 10 during an event in Bhubaneswar in September.

The BJP central leadership had also softened its stand towards the BJD on various issues which fuelled the speculation about a possible alliance between the two parties, who were allies for around 11 years from 1998 to 2009.

BJP’s state chief Manmohan Samal said the party will divide the state into several clusters comprising four to five parliamentary segments. He said the party aims to gain 50% plus vote in every booth in the 2024 polls.

“We have prepared a two-month action plan as part of which our workers will reach out to every household in the state to educate the people about the Modi government’s achievements and schemes and to highlight the failure of the BJD government on various issues,” Samal told reporters.

The BJP vote share in the 2014 Assembly polls was 18%, which increased to 32.5% (23 MLAs) in the 2019 polls. In the Lok Sabha polls, the saffron party had bagged 38.9% votes in 2019 against 21.9% in 2014. The BJP bagged eight Lok Sabha seats in 2019, which was a sharp increase in its tally from just one seat in 2014.