The BJP and Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal (BJD) have decided not to form an alliance for the forthcoming Lok Sabha election.
The BJP will go solo in all 21 Lok Sabha seats and 147 Assembly seats of the state in the upcoming simultaneous elections, the party president Manmohan Samal said on Friday.
“Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will fight this election alone in all 21 Lok Sabha and 147 Assembly seats to create a developed India and a developed Odisha under the visionary leadership of Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi to fulfil the hopes, aspirations and aspirations of four and a half crore Odiyas,” Samal said in a post on X.
He also thanked BJD president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for their party’s support to the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre over the past decade.
“We believe that states with dual engine governments across the country witness extensive development and expedited welfare initiatives for the underprivileged,” he said,
Samal also claimed that several welfare schemes introduced by the Modi government have not effectively reached the grassroots level, resulting in the failure of many Odisha residents to benefit from them.
The BJD and the BJP were in alliance for about 11 years between 1998 and 2009, contesting three Lok Sabha and two Assembly elections together.
A senior BJP leader told the Indian Express that the decision was taken by PM Modi and the party’s top leadership after “assessing ground realities”.