BHUBANESWAR: State election in-charge of BJP Vijay Pal Singh Tomar on Saturday added to the confusion among his party’s leaders by feigning ignorance on any talks between leaders of BJD with the central leadership of his outfit on a possible alliance.
In a well-choreographed sequence, Tomar on his arrival from New Delhi told reporters here he has absolutely no knowledge of any discussions about the alliance. This was the exact version of state BJP president Manmohan Samal after his return from the national capital on Friday.
“I am not aware of any talks of BJD leaders with our central leaders. Even if there was any, we were not informed about it,” he said. Replying to queries on a series of discussions in New Delhi, Tomar said, “We had elaborate discussions about our preparation for the 21 Lok Sabha and 147 Assembly seats. We discussed our strength and weaknesses in each seat, existing organisational structure and requirement of funds to fight the upcoming elections,” he said.
Exuding confidence that the BJP will win more than 80 Assembly and 16 Lok Sabha seats, the Rajya Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh said the party will field candidates from all seats in the state. Since there are no talks of any alliance, he said, the BJP will fight the polls alone.
Clearing the air over news in circulation about a possible BJD-BJP alliance, Tomar said the question should be asked to those who floated the rumour. Denying he had any idea on the visit of two BJD leaders - 5T chairperson VK Pandian and BJD organisational secretary Pranab Prakash Das - to New Delhi in a special flight on Thursday, Tomar said, “Nobody from BJD met me in Delhi. If anybody had met our central leaders, then I was not informed.”
While Samal and Tomar are in denial over alliance talks with central leaders of the party, sources aware of the development in the BJP said it is an attempt to assuage the feelings of party workers who are hurt over the unexpected development. “Since the alliance talks are finalised at the top level, a formal announcement is likely to be made in a day or two,” sources said. Meanwhile, field reports suggested Samal is reported to have informed his party workers about the alliance formation and that he will contest from Chandbali assembly segment.