2024 Battle: Odisha BJP says no alliance, one-to-one fight with BJD

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday cleared the air by saying there is no chance of any alliance with the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in the upcoming 2024 elections.

BJP’s Regional In-Charge Sunil Bansal said this while addressing a meeting with all the party office bearers of Odisha in Bhubaneswar.

"2024 election is going to be an intense fight. BJP will fight in all 147 Assembly and 21 Parliamentary seats in Odisha. The saffron party will target a 50 percent vote share by taking all the 157 Central public welfare schemes to every door of the State," said Bansal.

After the meeting, Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi said, “PM Modi had held a meeting in Delhi with all the office bearers of the party and advised them on how to proceed for the 2024 elections. After that, Regional In-Charge Sunil Bansal provided us directions on the same today. The first thing he said was that BJP will fight its own war and the party will not make any compromise or alliance in Odisha.”

According to Sarangi, several people in Odisha with vested interests are spreading rumours about a possible alliance between BJD and BJP.

"It has been made clear today that the BJP will have no alliance with anybody,” Sarangi said.

Leader of Opposition (LoP), Jayanarayan Mishra said, “We do not have any relationship with the BJD. Those were only rumours spread by some BJD-supported newspapers and electronics media. The common people know it very well that BJP will fight alone in Odisha.”

Speaking about the expected vote share, Mishra said, “We are expecting at least 50 percent vote share from booth level. It is going to be a one-to-one fight with the BJD as Congress has almost lost its existence in the State.”

However, BJD leader Bhupinder Singh countered the BJP, saying, ”Some parties are coming only at the time of elections, but since the 2019 elections, the BJD has been working and ready for the 2024 elections. Hence, what is the need for election preparedness for the BJD. The BJD is among the people. And people are ready for the BJD.”