Ending weeks of speculation, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Odisha categorically stated on Friday evening that it would contest the upcoming assembly and Lok Sabha elections alone, signaling the breakdown of alliance talks with the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD).The announcement came from Manmohan Samal, the state president of the BJP, upon his return from Delhi after holding discussions with the partys central leadership. We had gone to Delhi to hold discussions with the central leaders on our preparations for the upcoming Lok Sabha and assembly elections in the state. No talks on alliance or seat-sharing with any party were held during the meeting, Samal asserted.Expressing confidence in the partys prospects, he added, The Odisha BJP will contest and win the elections on its own strength.Meanwhile, BJD leaders VK Pandian and Pranab Prakash Das, who had traveled to Delhi on a chartered flight on Thursday evening to discuss pre-poll alliance issues with the BJPs central leadership, returned to Bhubaneswar. However, they maintained silence, leaving the fate of the potential alliance shrouded in uncertainty.According to sources, the alliance talks between the two parties hit a roadblock over the contentious issue of seat-sharing. While both parties had initially agreed to an alliance, their demands for a greater share of seats proved to be a stumbling block.The BJD is demanding about 75 per cent of the assembly seats, which is not acceptable to us, a senior BJP leader said, warning that such a scenario would adversely affect the saffron partys prospects in the state.Conversely, the BJD was unwilling to accede to the BJPs demand for 14 of Odishas 21 Lok Sabha seats. It would be suicidal for us if we contest in less than 10 LS seats, a senior BJD leader stated.The history of the BJP-BJD alliance dates back to 1998 when they joined forces and won 17 of the 21 Lok Sabha seats in the state with a 48.7 percent vote share. The alliance continued until 2009, during which period Naveen Patnaik served as the minister of steel and mines in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.As the political landscape in Odisha takes a new turn, the stage is set for a high-stakes electoral battle between the two parties.
