BHUBANESWAR: While the statement of Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Bhakta Charan Das on a possible electoral alliance with BJD has set political circles abuzz, the regional outfit continues to be non-committal towards any such proposal.
Senior vice-president of BJD and former minister Debi Prasad Mishra termed such speculations a common feature of politics and clarified that no discussions have taken place within the party on the matter.
He emphasised that any decision of such importance would be taken by party president Naveen Patnaik only.
BJD sources, however, indicated a lack of enthusiasm within the BJD for any such arrangement following the recent Rajya Sabha election experiment, where despite Congress support, the party failed to secure victory for its second candidate Datteswar Hota. Besides, there is also strong opposition in both the BJD and Congress camps to such a proposal.
The state Congress unit is also divided on the issue with several senior leaders are understood to be opposed to Das’ suggestion. At the same time, BJD units at the district level are reportedly against accommodating the Congress at the district and panchayat-level, with the rural and urban body elections slated to be held in April next year.
A senior Congress leader told this paper that they have fought the BJD and BJP for the last 24 years. “Congress has worked hard to establish itself as a genuine opposition. Joining the BJD camp will further erode the base of Congress in Odisha,” he said.
State BJP president Manmohan Samal, on the other hand, welcomed such a possibility stating that there should be always be strong opposition.
“We should not comment on such an understanding between BJD and Congress. But a strong opposition is always good for the state,” he said and advised all the opposition parties to come together and form a single party.