Naveen Patnaik, NDA to reunite after 15 years? Details emerge

Ahead of the Lok Sabha polls and assembly elections in Odisha, there are talks that the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) led by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik could rekindle ties with the BJP. Although there has been no formal announcement yet, leaders of both parties have hinted at a re-alliance.

The BJD left the BJP-led NDA in 2009 after an 11-year political partnership due to failed seat-sharing talks.

According to BJD sources, discussion on an alliance with the BJP has not been finalised, and a decision could be made by Friday afternoon. Two BJD leaders, VK Pandian and Pranab Prakash Das, left for Delhi on Thursday on a special charter flight reportedly to meet senior BJP leaders, added the sources.

The BJD could agree for 13 Lok Sabha seats and give eight to the BJP, said party sources. Meanwhile, the BJP wants nine Lok Sabha seats and 55 in the Odisha assembly polls. Currently, the BJP has eight Lok Sabha MPs and 23 MLAs.

Odisha has as many as 21 Lok Sabha seats and 147 assembly constituencies.

BJD leaders held a four-hour-long meeting at Naveen Niwas, the residence of Naveen Patnaik, in Bhubaneswar on Wednesday. They discussed the party's alliance prospects, said sources.

Meanwhile, Odisha BJP leaders also had a meeting with Union Home Minister Amit Shah and party chief JP Nadda in New Delhi wherein they discussed election matters, including a potential alliance with Naveen Patnaik's party.

Following the BJD meeting, party's vice-president and MLA Debi Prasad Mishra agreed there were discussions about a possible alliance with the BJP. He told reporters that the BJD will "prioritise the greater interests of the people of Odisha", claiming the state progressed significantly under Naveen Patnaik's leadership.

Odisha Minister Pratap Keshari Deb echoed Debi Prasad Mishra.

"We had a high-level meeting in the party, under the chairmanship of party president Naveen Patnaik. We discussed all the aspects of the coming elections. The party decided unanimously that what is best in the interest of the state, the party should take a call on that. Whatever decision the party makes, it will be in view of the interest of the state," Keshari Deb told news agency ANI.

A press statement issued by Debi Mishra and BJD senior general secretary Arun Kumar Sahoo stated that at the meeting an extensive discussion was held with senior leaders "regarding the strategy of the upcoming Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha elections".

A similar acknowledgement of the alliance talks was made by senior BJP leader and MP Jual Oram, who, however, said that a final call on the alliance would be made by the party's central leadership.

"Yes, there were discussions on the alliance among other issues. The party’s central leadership will make the final call," Oram said.

There has been growing buzz lately of the BJP and the BJD rejoining hands ahead of the Lok Sabha polls and the assembly elections in Odisha, which would be held simultaneously. However, both sides previously rejected media reports on February 29.

In 2019, the BJP won eight parliamentary constituencies and 23 assembly seats, while the BJD won 12 parliamentary constituencies and 112 assembly seats.

KANDHAMAL RIOTS ENDED BJD-BJP 11-YEAR POLITICAL TIE

The BJD entered into an alliance with the BJP in 1998, with them seeing success in three Lok Sabha elections and two assembly polls in Odisha.

The parties parted ways in 2009, a year after the Kandhamal riots that triggered condemnation from sectors within India and abroad.

In the large-scale violence, which happened between August 25 and 28, 2008, nearly 40 Christians were killed, more than 395 churches were vandalised, and 600 villages ransacked. Additionally, more than 5,600 houses were looted and over 54,000 people were left homeless.

The riots were triggered by the killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Swami Lakshmanand Saraswati and four of his associates by masked assailants. Though police blamed Maoists for his murder, locals in Kandhamal district believed Christian tribals to be behind the killing, triggering the riots.

Saraswati, reportedly, established schools and ashrams and focused on re-converting what the VHP and Sangh Parivar claimed were people converted to Christianity.

In 2008, Kandhamal was simmering with violence, considering a similar violence had happened in the district in December 2007 during Christmas, in clashes between groups of Sangh Parivar associate unit and Christians. Hundreds of homes were torched and vandalised, and churches were burnt down. In response, Christian mobs burnt down homes of Hindus.

In 2010, BJP MLA Manoj Pradhan was convicted in the violence and sentenced to seven years of rigorous imprisonment for the Kandhamal riots. He was among 18 people who were convicted in the riots.

The Kandhamal riots caused a rift between the BJD and the BJP.

A year later, in 2009, Naveen Patnaik's BJD proposed a cutback in the BJP's share of Lok Sabha seats from nine to six and from 63 to 40 for the assembly polls. This demand was rejected by the BJP.

Coupled with the uneasiness over the Kandhamal riots, the BJD decided to part ways with the BJP.

However, even after leaving the NDA, the BJD continued to support the PM Modi-led central government in Parliament.

Naveen Patnaik's side also supported NDA candidates in the presidential and vice-presidential polls in 2012, 2017 and 2022.

PM MOODI, CM PATNAIK HAVE EXCHANGED PRAISES

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Naveen Patnaik have publicly praised each other, most recently during the former's visit to Odisha on Tuesday (March 5) wherein he launched multiple developmental projects worth over Rs 19,600 crore in the state's Jaipur district.

PM Modi also paid tribute to Naveen Patnaik's father, ex-Chief Minister of Odisha, Biju Patnaik, on his birth anniversary.

The Prime Minister said that "Biju Baba's invaluable contributions" to Odisha's development and the nation "remain unmatched", adding that it was an honour for him to pay homage to him on behalf of the country.