BHUBANESWAR: The prevailing suspense over an alliance between BJD and BJP has caused a prolonged agony for aspirants of the ruling party tickets particularly for Assembly seats as a large number of sitting MLAs fear they will not be renominated.
Several such MLAs who were working in their constituencies for the last one month were sure of a ticket. But now they have returned to the state capital to keep a track of the developing situation. Some of them are also planning to meet the leadership to get adjusted in some other seat if they fail to get a ticket because of the alliance.
Senior leaders and a few district presidents told The New Indian Express it will take at least a week to finalise the seat sharing if the alliance materialises. After the announcement of alliance, the exercise on individual seats will be undertaken. The process will take at least a week.
Sources said some top BJD leaders will attend the NDA dinner party next week. The NDA meeting has also been deferred to a later date. There is strong speculation in party circles that either Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik will visit New Delhi or Union Home Minister Amit Shah will visit Odisha for a formal announcement after the exercise is over.
BJD sources said general secretary (organisation) Pranab Prakash Das was expected to leave for New Delhi in the evening. But the visit has been deferred. BJD has already intimated about the number of Assembly and Lok Sabha seats the party wants to contest and now it is for the BJP to respond, a senior leader said.