Odisha: Political Firestorm in BJD as BJP Seems to be Shifting Goal Post Over Alliance
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Some remedies often prove to be worse than the disease. The ongoing talks for a renewed alliance between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Odisha seems heading towards a deadlock, as both the parties are reportedly unwilling to compromise on certain seat-sharing demands as of now.
What came out from prolonged talks at the residence of the Union Home minister Amit Shah, in Delhi, on Wednesday did not bode well for the BJD.
As reports suggested earlier, the BJP had demanded 55 Assembly seats and leave the rest 92 for BJD in the house of 147. This, perhaps, could have given an edge to BJP in case of an alliance.
If some sources in BJP in Delhi are to be believed, the talks may face rough weather as BJP seems to have changed its mind and has signaled that it may contest from 100 Assembly seats in Odisha. This reportedly has led to the stand-off between the two former allies.
On the other side, BJP is said to be bargaining for 14 out of the total 21 Lok Sabha seats, leaving BJD to remain content with just seven parliamentary seats. This is in sharp contrast to what BJD being in the driver’s seat in the past 24 years.
From 12 Lok Sabha seats in 2019 down to seven has sparked visible jitters in the BJD camp. What setting in more panic for the BJD leadership is murmurs of revolt among party cadres who are said to be reluctant to accept such drastic marginalistion at the 11th hour.
“This may lead to a situation where many disgruntled BJD members may switch over to Congress as the last resort. And that will further weaken BJD in the Assembly and in Lok Sabha”, Rabi Das, a veteran political analyst, told this writer.
“We have been with BJD right from its inception and our loyalty to the party does not deserve such last moment annihilation at this juncture. Our leader Naveen Patnaik should show the guts and political resilience. He should stay firm in order to stop this overdrive by BJP” a senior BJD leader told this writer on the conditions of anonymity.
Advantage Congress
One potential political fallout of the truce between the two earlier alliance partners, if done in such a climate of “stubborn posturing” by BJP, can be that the Congress in Odisha may add to its vote percentage of 24% in 2019 and emerge as a reasonably good Opposition in Odisha Assembly.
The writer is an independent journalist.
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