The Hindu : BJD-BJP alliance runs into roadblocks

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Mar 30, 2004

National

National - Elections 2004

BJD-BJP alliance runs into roadblocks

Prafulla Das

BHUBANESWAR

The cracks in the ruling Biju Janata Dal-Bharatiya Janata Party alliance in Orissa are finally showing up with leaders of both parties failing to reach agreement on swapping key Assembly seats. This, coupled with the growing distrust between the workers of both the parties at the grassroots level, may affect the poll prospects of the alliance in the coming days.

The ruling coalition is hopeful of doing well in the polls to the 21 Lok Sabha seats in the State, but alliance leaders are apprehensive about their performance in the Assembly polls. Apart from their failure to exchange some key seats, both parties are also hamstrung by dissidence, with rebel candidates mushrooming in seats where seat-swapping has not taken place and in several other constituencies where the sitting legislators have been denied party tickets. The announcement about seat-swapping had created a large number of ticket aspirants from both the parties.

Besides, the BJD's denial of tickets to 17 of its sitting MLAs may cost the party dear in some seats. Adding to this, the party has taken in several candidates from the Congress and other parties causing resentment among its workers at the grassroots level.

Moreover, the alliance is likely to face a tough challenge from the Opposition that has gained strength in the recent weeks.

Apart from inducting several BJD rebels, the Congress has also been able to secure last-minute alliances with parties such as the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the Communist Party of India, and the Orissa Gana Parishad.

The Congress too has several prominent faces in the poll fray, and the State leadership of the party appears to be concentrating more on the Assembly polls than on the fight for the 21 Lok Sabha constituencies.

Although the Chief Minister and BJD president, Naveen Patnaik, has started campaigning in earnest, his failure to secure a consensus over the exchange of seats is likely to hamper the poll prospects of the alliance in nearly 10 Assembly segments.

The BJD has a strong leader in Mr. Patnaik, but it lacks organisational muscle. The State BJP, on the other hand, does not have a leader with State-wide appeal.

Senior leaders from both parties concede that, with seat-swapping not happening, the rebels are likely to hurt the poll prospects of the alliance in many segments. But they argue that the Congress too will have to contend with dissidence, making it a level playing field.

The alliance will campaign for the Lok Sabha polls on the strength of the leadership of the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

But local issues threaten to undermine the prospects of alliance candidates in the Assembly elections, in which the BJD-BJP combine is striving to cash in on the "clean image'' of the Chief Minister.

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