Bhubaneswar: Firmly ruling out any tie-up with Biju Janata Dal (BJD) for the upcoming polls in Odisha, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday said the party go it alone for the electoral battle.
Addressing a meeting with the office bearers of the state unit in Bhubaneswar, BJP’s regional in-charge Sunil Bansal said there is no question of forging any alliance with BJD.
Stating that the forthcoming election will involve an intense fight, he said BJP will contest all the 147 Assembly and 21 Lok Sabha seats in Odisha.
The party will target at least 50 per cent vote share in the polls by taking all the 157 Central welfare schemes to every door of the state, Bansal said.
After the meeting, senior party leader Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had held a meeting in New Delhi with all the office bearers of the party and advised them the way they should move forward for the 2024 elections.
Stating that Bansal gave several suggestions during the meeting and the first thing said was that BJP will fight on its own without making any compromise or alliance in Odisha, she said, claiming that some people in with vested interests are spreading rumours about a possible alliance between BJD and BJP for the upcoming polls.
Speaking in same vein, Leader of Opposition (LoP) in state Assembly, Jayanarayan Mishra said, BJP has no understanding with BJD and the party will fight the elections without forging any alliance.
The senior BJP leader stated that the saffron party is hopeful of securing at least 50 per cent vote share from booth level. The election this time is going to be a direct fight between BJP and BJD as Congress has almost lost its existence in the state, Mishra added.