The Odisha BJP’s announcement to independently contest the upcoming assembly and Lok Sabha elections came on Friday evening, following reported deadlock in alliance discussions with the ruling BJD, as neither side was willing to yield to the other’s demands. BJP state president Manmohan Samal, upon returning from Delhi on Friday, clarified that there were no talks regarding alliance or seat-sharing during his visit, reiterating the party’s determination to contest and win based on its own merits.
Meanwhile, BJD leaders VK Pandian and Pranab Prakash Das, who had traveled to Delhi to address alliance issues with central BJP leaders, returned to Bhubaneswar without commenting on the situation.
According to sources cited by PTI, although an alliance between the two parties had been agreed upon initially, both are now vying for a larger share of seats. The BJD purportedly demanded over 100 out of 147 assembly seats, which the BJP found unacceptable, fearing it would jeopardize their electoral prospects in the state. Conversely, the BJD was reluctant to concede to the BJP’s demand for 14 out of 21 Lok Sabha seats, expressing concerns about the potential impact on their electoral performance if they were to contest fewer than 10 Lok Sabha seats.
Reflecting on the political history of the BJP and BJD in Odisha, the two parties were allies between 1998 and 2009. During this period, Naveen Patnaik served as the minister of steel and mines in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. Their alliance saw success in the 1998 general elections, securing victory in 17 out of 21 seats with a 48.7 percent vote share, which increased to 19 seats in 1999 before slightly dropping to 18 in 2004. However, in the 2019 Odisha assembly elections, the BJD emerged victorious with 112 seats, along with claiming 12 Lok Sabha seats, while the BJP managed to win eight Lok Sabha seats.