Tag: Odisha Assembly Election

Taking to his official X (formerly Twitter) handle, Odisha Governor termed his meeting with Shah as a courtesy call.

Ahead of the elections, the Odisha cabinet has been approving various proposals on remunerations, salaries, cadre restructuring, and promotion and post-retirement benefits of staff in various departments 

Amid the suspense on the alliance,  Manmohan Samal, organizational secretary Manas Mohanty, Odisha in-charge Vijaypal Singh Tomar, and co-in-charge Lata Usendi left for New Delhi in the evening.

MLA Pratap Jena said, “Elections are coming. I told you(people at the meeting) one thing five years ago. Do you remember if that prediction came true? Today, I also predict one thing and you note it down. Prashant Behera will come out with flying colours at least by a margin of 50,000 votes in the coming elections.”    

AAP's national convenor Arvind Kejriwal had appointed Delhi minister Saurabh Bhardwaj as the party's in-charge for Odisha.

Gopalpur MLA and BJP leader, Pradeep Panigrahi on Saturday countered Nrusingha Charan Sahu’s remark that the BJD will win over 110 seats, saying the BJP will fight alone and form government in Odisha. 

Patnaik did not clarify the party that will emerge as the sole opposition. Many wonder if he is referring to the Congress, of which he was once a member. “This situation will arise because the BJP was asserting itself as the opposition and an alternative. In case of an alliance, the BJP will be not there as an opposition,” he added.

BJP leader Lekhashree Samantasinghar said, "There are many officers who have overstayed at their place of postings. Many of them have not been transferred for five, 10, and even 12 years since their postings. Their long service in one place is against the guidelines meant for free and fair elections.”  

A day after the Congress announced its first list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the grand old party’s screening committee meeting to finalize candidates for Odisha was convened in New Delhi on Saturday. 

Tomar also tried to clear the air by stating that no discussion took place regarding any alliance. He went on to say that the BJP is doing all preparations to fight the upcoming elections.

BJD MLA Nrusingha Charan Sahu said, "BJD has agreed to an alliance only in the interest of Odisha. The people of Odisha will be benefitted from the alliance."

With the recent posturing of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) keeping everyone guessing about a possible alliance, the Congress in the state has been in an upbeat mood.

No discussions were held on alliance, said Odisha BJP president Manmohan Samal after his arrival from New Delhi on Friday. 

However, the suspense over the alliance still continues as reports suggest no consensus has been possible between the parties over seat sharing.

Earlier, Anshuman Mohanty, former Congress MLA from Rajnagar and the son of ex-BJD leader Nalini Mohanty had joined the ruling party. Notably, Bijay Mohapatra, one of the founding members of the BJD, was expelled from the party 24 years ago. Since then, he has been silently and dimly active in politics despite his consecutive defeats in Assembly elections on his home turf.