How PM Modi ensured 'Ghar Wapsi' of BJD into NDA after 15 years

New Delhi: With the alliance between the Bharatiya Janata Party and Biju Janta Dal likely to be finalised soon, it is understood that Prime Minister Narendra Modi worked behind the scenes to ensure that alliance talks bore fruit.

Sources stated that it was PM Modi who led the talks regarding BJD’s reentry into the saffron alliance with Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. The two leaders enjoy a good rapport with each other and are known to have never openly attacked each other politically.

This good understanding between the two ensured that BJD had been soft regarding several causes that were pushed by the BJP government at the Centre.

It must be remembered that the BJD bailed out the National Democratic Alliance on several occasions, during its decade-long rule at the Centre, whenever the saffron alliance was falling short of the magic mark in the Rajya Sabha, sources pointed out.

Patnaik, who has been at the helm of Odisha for over two decades, is understood to have given his go-ahead for the seat-sharing talks after PM Modi sought his support.

By ensuring that all Odisha seats are in the saffron kitty, the BJP is trying to hit the Mission 400 mark which has been outlined by PM Modi recently, sources added.

“While BJP can contest on 14 seats and BJD can contest on 7 seats in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls. This will ensure that the NDA is going to secure all 21 seats in Odisha,” sources said.

Moreover, by entering the government in the Legislative Assembly, the work of expanding the organisation in the state will also be done.

While the Lok Sabha seats will see BJP's majority stake, a reciprocal approach for the BJD will be shown in the Assembly nominations.

Party strategists feel that this will help bear fruit for the BJP in the future as the BJP aims to become the big brother in the Odisha alliance over the next decade, sources said.

The 147-member Odisha Legislative Assembly is also scheduled to go for polls along with the Lok Sabha.

Over the past few elections, the BJP has been making rapid gains in the state as far as elections to the lower house of the Parliament. However, this alliance would ensure the survival of BJD over the next few years, while adding up numbers for the BJP at the Centre.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls the BJD was able to secure 13 constituencies while the BJP won 8 seats. This is in contrast to the 2014 general elections when the BJD had won 20 seats and BJP had secured just one seat.

The BJP has been eyeing expansion in Eastern India and has identified Odisha as one of the states where it can improve its performance in the 2024 general elections.

BJD and BJP had earlier fought elections as NDA partners. However, the allies had parted ways in 2008.

The BJP has been desperate to secure Odisha for itself as it has been completely erased from power in eastern India and non-BJP parties are now in government in electorally significant Jharkhand, West Bengal and Odisha.

In Bihar, a similar alliance was forged recently with the Janata Dal (United) to bring the NDA government back to power.

With the BJP already hitting the saturation mark in North, West and Northeast India, the Eastern region along with the South are the main hopes for growth and more seats for the saffron unit in the 2024 general elections as Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeks his third term in office.

If the BJP and BJD alliance does happen, it only goes to show how serious PM Modi is about the “Abki Baar, NDA 400 Paar” aim in the 2024 general elections, with the top saffron leadership itself putting in efforts to ensure that the slogan becomes a reality.