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Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Amid speculations of alliance between BJP and BJD in Odisha, both the parties are accusing each other of spreading rumours. Such speculations about the possibility of an alliance between the two parties are mainly around the Lok Sabha elections, but both the parties are calling it a rumour.
Odisha state BJP president Manmohan Samal has made it clear that there have been no talks with BJD and there is no possibility of an alliance. Meanwhile, party's election in-charge Vijay Pal Singh Tomar alleged that such rumors were being spread by Biju Janata Dal.
On the other hand, BJD national spokesperson Sasmit Patra has alleged that rumors of alliance have been spread by BJP. He claims that BJD is strong in itself and does not need alliance with any party.
He told the media on Saturday, 'BJP is spreading rumors of alliance. Actually, BJD does not need such an alliance with any party, because with the blessings of the public, it is strong enough in itself. According to him, 'We do not understand why they (BJP leaders) are spreading such rumours.'
The BJD leader claims that his party will get an overwhelming majority in the assembly elections and Naveen Patnaik will form the government for the sixth time. Also there will be a big victory in the Lok Sabha elections.
He expects BJD to win 147 to 120 seats in the assembly elections and the party to win 17 out of 21 seats in the Lok Sabha elections. Those who have left the party and joined BJP say that either they have been expelled from the party or they felt that their ticket will be cut this time.
On the other hand, BJP leader Vijay Pal Singh Tomar has refused to discuss any kind of alliance with BJD at the national level. He claims that the alliance was conceived by BJD itself.
He said, 'I do not know what was discussed in the BJP Parliamentary Board meeting because I am not a member of it. As far as Odisha is concerned, there has been no discussion regarding the assembly elections there. The state BJP president has expressed confidence that this time the party will win all the 21 Lok Sabha seats in the state and will form the government in Odisha as well.
Speculation of an alliance between the two parties began after a meeting between Home Minister Amit Shah and Naveen Patnaik's confidant VK Pandian in August last year. After this, agreement was reached between the two parties on many issues.
According to sources, there is a special tuning between the Chief Minister and national BJP leaders and his praise by Shah and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given rise to speculations. While Amit Shah described Patnaik as a 'popular Chief Minister', the Chief Minister gave 8 out of 10 marks to the Modi government in the Bhubaneswar meeting.
In the recent Rajya Sabha elections, when the candidature of Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav got the support of BJD, a mutual understanding appeared between the two parties. In a public meeting at IIM Sambalpur on February 3, PM Modi had called CM Patnaik his 'friend' and since then, speculations of reconciliation between the two sides have intensified.
Now, while both the parties have ruled out the possibility of any kind of alliance in the 2024 elections, Congress leader MLA Taraprasad Bahinipati has claimed that there will be seat sharing between the two parties in both the elections. In support of this, the Jaipur MLA claims that there is not a single name from Odisha in the first list of 195 BJP candidates, which is a clear indication that there is going to be coordination of seats between the two parties in the state. (Input-PTI)