Bhubaneswar: Amidst the speculation and confusion about whether there will be any alliance between the ruling BJD and BJP, the state BJP leaders are claiming that no discussions are held with them for an alliance with the BJD.
After arriving here for holding meetings with party leaders, BJP co-in-charge for elections in Odisha, Lata Usendi on Sunday said that such speculation is going on only in the media.
“We are ready to fight on all seats, be it Assembly or Lok Sabha in Odisha and discussion was held on each seat in New Delhi. A crucial meeting with party office bearers in Odisha will be held today,” said Lata.
When asked whether the BJP doesn’t want an alliance with BJD, Lata said, “We are preparing to fight in all seats and no talks have been held.”
Earlier, BJP election in-charge Vijaypal Singh Tomar categorically stated that neither he is aware of any alliance between the BJD & BJP nor any BJD leader met him.
“If alliance discussions have taken place, such talks with BJD are neither in my knowledge nor we have been told about it,” Tomar told reporters on Sunday.
He informed that BJP is making all preparations to fight the elections alone in the State. Further, he said, no discussion took place regarding any alliance in Odisha.
When asked about BJD leaders V K Pandian and Pranab Prakash Das flew to New Delhi on Thursday evening for seat-sharing talks with BJP, the senior BJP leader said, “If anybody had met with our senior central leaders, they would have informed me.”
Not only the above two leaders, State BJP President Manmohan Samal too said he is ignorant about any alliance with BJD. No such talk or discussion was held during his meeting with party’s senior leaders in New Delhi.
Interestingly, top Odisha BJP leaders, who are having a good rapo with BJP national leadership, Dharmendra Pradhan, Aparajita Sarangi, and Sambit Patra remained silent on the issue.
In the background of such statements from Odisha BJP leaders, BJD President and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s remarks in a video shared on various social media platforms yesterday created a spark in State politics.
In the instagram story shared by the 5T Chairman V K Pandian is seen asking Naveen “What is the worst thing in politics?, the CM replied, rumour and lies.”
With these statements and CM’s remarks, now all eyes are on the top BJP leaders like Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah and BJP President J P Nadda.
