Indus Valley Times

By Sukant Mohanty

Bhubaneswar, March 7 :  Amid the speculation of an alliance between the BJD and BJP, ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha and Odisha Legislative Assembly elections, two BJD leaders— bureaucrat-turned BJD politician VK Pandian and BJD organisational secretary Pranab Prakash Das — on Thursday evening left for New Delhi in a special flight.

The two BJD leaders flew to New Delhi reportedly to carry forward the discussions with the BJP on the modalities of a coalition.

As per reports, the visit by Pandian and Das has strengthened the possibility of the talks between the two parties which are believed to be going on   They are likely to carry forward talks on alliance and seat-sharing ratio with the top leadership of the BJP.

If reports are to be believed, the BJP is aiming to fight in 13 Lok Sabha seats of Odisha while the BJD is likely to contest in 8 LS seats. It is believed that the discussion between the two parties on the seat-sharing ratio is taking time. It is also said that either a 13-8 or 14-7 seat-sharing ratio is likely being considered while there are no hints on the Assembly seat-sharing formula as yet.

Political analysts believe that there seems to be a lack of consensus on the seat-sharing ratio for LS and Assembly, and hence, there may be some delay in openly announcing the alliance.