BJP will Fight LS, Assembly Polls in Odisha alone, Form Next Govt: Bhupender Yadav

Bhubaneshwar: Ending all the speculations in the political corridors, Union minister for environment, forest and climate change, Bhupender Yadav on Saturday said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will fight the Lok Sabha and assembly elections in Odisha on its own strength and form the next government too.

Yadav said this while attending a programme in Bhubaneswar.

“There is no possibility of any alliance between the Odisha’s ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the BJP. We will fight alone in Odisha; and we will also form the government on our own,” he said.

The growing bonhomie between the BJP and the BJD, who are considered archrivals in Odisha, has become the centre of discussion not only in the state politics but also in Delhi.

Immediately after the BJD backed the Delhi Services Bill and opposed the Opposition INDIA's no-confidence motion, Union home minister Amit Shah came to Odisha. Moreover, he heaped praises on Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik during government programmes. The Odisha CM reciprocated and extolled the former.

The Congress even ridiculed the support of the BJD to the BJP in the Parliament which ‘created confusion’ among the people. However, both the BJP and the BJD have been trying to clear the air on the rumours of a possible alliance of the two parties in Odisha since then.

Towing the same line, Odisha BJP chief Manmohan Samal said that the BJP will fight alone in all the 147 Assembly seats and 21 Lok Sabha seats in the next election.

“We are ready to fight in case of an early election too. People’s mandate is with us. As per our internal survey, we are well ahead of the BJD. Our party will surprise everybody in this election,” said Samal.

There was, however, no reaction from the BJD side.

Though the BJP enjoys the main opposition party in Odisha, it has currently got only 22 members in the 147-member State Assembly. On the other hand, the ruling BJD has got 113 members while the Congress has 9.