When Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives in Odisha on Tuesday, the clamour around a purported alliance between the ruling Biju Janata Dal and Bharatiya Janata Party would have reached a crescendo. This would be Modi’s second visit to the state in as many months and is certainly not going to be his last with the general elections approaching. The intense speculation over a pact has been in the air for quite some time, but what got the rumour mills buzzing is the date—March 5, the birth anniversary of former chief minister Biju Patnaik. So much so that talks of a Bharat Ratna honour for the tall leader—deservedly so—followed by formalisation of alliance have been doing the rounds. In the season of elections and new allies, the plot sounds familiar. Just like the Bihar story. Of course, both the BJP and the BJD have refuted it. But what provided grist to the mill is Union railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw’s re-nomination to the Rajya Sabha, which received an unstinting support from the BJD.
Also, the BJP’s first list of 195 candidates for Lok Sabha seats did not include Odisha. The BJD, on its part, too has not named any either. Coincidence or by design, these have only fuelled further speculation. Truth be told, the two erstwhile partners have been in unofficial alliance ever since Modi came to power in 2014. Almost every major legislative and administrative decision of the NDA has received the BJD’s support—both in and outside of Parliament. The Naveen Patnaik-led regional party may have the habit of crying itself hoarse over Central neglect but has always been a trusted friend in the Rajya Sabha, where the BJP does not have the required strength.
Last month, when Modi visited the state, his party expected the PM to train the gun at the BJD; instead, he called Naveen a ‘mitra,’ leaving the rank and file of both the parties confounded. The speculation started then and has not subsided yet. But, a wiser question is who needs the alliance? Is it the BJP whose state of affairs in the state is not exactly rosy despite all the big talk? Or is it the BJD which is looking at transition? When the status quo has clearly worked for them, a formal alliance would only give jitters to aspirants from both the sides, muddling the road ahead of the elections. The BJD severed ties with and the BJP in 2009. Ever since, both have grown at the expense of Congress, which is now on the margins in Odisha. While an alliance may work in the short-term, why hand the opposition space to Congress? We will know soon, for sure.