Pradeep Pattanayak

Soon after the Bharatiya Janata Party state president Manmohan Samal cleared the suspense over the possible alliance with the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) by announcing on social media that the BJP will contest alone in both Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Odisha, the leaders, as well as workers of the saffron party, celebrated the decision. 

Welcoming the decision to stay away from the alliance, the party workers celebrated the moment by bursting crackers and distributing sweets. The entire party office in Bhubaneswar was soaked in celebrations. Such scenes were not only witnessed at the party office in Bhubaneswar but also in district offices. 

Message behind celebrations! 

Since day one of the alliance talks, it was being discussed in the political corridors that the state BJP unit was keen to fight the polls alone. It was also discussed that the state party leaders were trying to convince the top leadership in Delhi that they had become strong enough to contest alone and form government. And finally, it seems the central leaders were convinced and stuck with the decision of the state unit to contest the elections alone. 

In fact, not only the leaders but also the rank and file of the party are brimming with the confidence that they will form the government in Odisha. This is why they had been averse to the alliance. 

One of the celebrating workers at the party office in Bhubaneswar said, “The talks of the alliance have come to an end. Now the path is clear. We will contest the elections alone and form the government in Odisha.”

Gift for aspirants

According to political pundits, ticket aspirants are the ones who are happier than anyone else. The ticket aspirants were said to be under tremendous mental pressure and eagerly waiting for the final decision with bated breath.  

This is so because they were apprehending that they mayn’t get tickets if the alliance talks fructified. They had valid reasons as they started the spadework a long ago, some from the last election. 

When it was announced that there would be no alliance between the BJP and BJD, their joy knew no bounds. They celebrated the moment by firing crackers and distributing sweets.

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