Seat-sharing talks: BJP to get larger share in Lok Sabha polls, BJD for assembly
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Thursday inched closer to announcing a reunion after 15 years, people aware of the matter said, with the former likely to get a higher share of seats in the Lok Sabha polls and the latter receiving a bigger chunk of seats in the assembly elections that are scheduled to be held simultaneously.
The formal announcement of the alliance is likely to come on Saturday and the seat-sharing agreement next week, when Union home minister Amit Shah is scheduled to visit the eastern state, said the people cited above.
The return of the BJD to the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) fold will bolster the latter’s quest for 400+ seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
The BJD has continuously ruled Odisha, which sends 21 members to the Lower House, for the last 24 years.
For now, the two parties – which came together in 1998 but parted ways before the 2009 general elections – appear to have agreed that the BJP will fight 14 Lok Sabha seats and the BJD seven, said two people aware of negotiations. In the 147-member assembly, the BJD is likely to contest 100 seats and the BJP 47, the people added.
The local units of both parties, however, are unhappy and have conveyed their dissatisfaction to their respective leadership.
Also Read: Odisha BJP chief denies any alliance with BJD for Lok Sabha and Assembly polls
In 2019, the BJD won 112 assembly seats to form the government in the state, while the BJP won 23, 13 more than its tally in 2014.
In the Lok Sabha, the BJD won 12 seats, the BJP eight, and the Congress one. The BJD is considered a “friendly party” to the ruling BJP, having lent support to the Union government for the passage of crucial bills.
The BJD aims to use the alliance to cancel any threat to Naveen Patnaik’s impending sixth term as chief minister of the state. The 77-year-old has been in power since 2000 and if he manages to win, he will become the longest-serving CM in India, overtaking Sikkim’s Pawan Chamling.
“The lure of the BJP has been growing. In two of the 21 constituencies, Bargarh and Bhubaneswar, voters very clearly voted for the BJP in the LS seat and BJD in the assembly seat,’’ said one of the leaders quoted above.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP had a vote share of 38.4% as compared to 42.8% for the BJD.
In the assembly polls, the BJP won 32.8% of the votes, compared to 45.2% for the BJD.
For the BJP, the 21 seats of Odisha are key to attaining the goal of more than 400 seats for the NDA. “It’s something the PM has always been keen on,’’ said the second person aware of details, adding, “Since 2014, there have been overtures and this seemed to be the right time to come together.’’
According to the first senior leader, the PM’s principal secretary PK Mishra was the special envoy and helped seal the deal when he visited the state on February 29. For the record, Mishra was in town to attend an event at the Kalinga institute of Technology. However, insiders say that he spent an extra couple of days there, as part of backchannel talks.
Mishra’s office, confirmed that he was in Odisha on Feb 29 and March 1 but did not comment on other possible engagements. The first senior leader said that Patnaik’s aide VK Pandian made several trips to Delhi to meet with the BJP leadership.
Pandian and BJD organisational secretary Pranab Prakash Das arrived in Delhi on Thursday evening for a discussion with Amit Shah and senior BJP leaders.
Last month, Union minister and BJP leader Dharmendra Pradhan, who is likely to contest from Odisha, posted about the state’s goals for 2036 when Odisha turns 100. It’s exactly what the BJD cited as part of its action plan after the meeting on Wednesday.
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