Naveen Patnaik calls BJD meet on Thursday as alliance with BJP lingers

Bhubaneswar: With the possibility of a pre-poll alliance between the BJP and BJD still lingering, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has convened a meeting of his party's senior leaders on Thursday afternoon, sources said.

The BJD, which had on March 6, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Odisha, held a meeting of its senior leaders, decided to go for another round of discussions on the matter as no development took place from the BJP side, a senior BJD leader privy to the development said on condition of anonymity.

In its March 6 meeting, the BJD had resolved for "anything (including alliance)" for the larger interest of the state, he said.

"The proposal for an alliance had come from the BJP, and the BJD leaders discussed it at Naveen Niwas, Patnaik's residence," he said.

A day after the meeting, Patnaik's close aide V K Pandian and BJD's organising secretary Pranab Prakash Das had rushed to Delhi and informed the top BJP leaders about the regional party's views on the possible alliance.

However, the BJD was yet to get any response from the top BJP leaders.

"Thursday's meeting may discuss the changing political situation in the state in the wake of the possible alliance," the leader said.

However, several BJP leaders, including MPs Pratap Sarangi and Jual Oram, have expressed reservations over the possible alliance.