Lok Sabha Elections 2024: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is likely to ally with Naveen Patnaik's Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Odisha for the Lok Sabha polls, sources have said.
Odisha has a total of 21 Lok Sabha seats. In 2019 polls, the BJP won 12 seats, the saffron party got 8 while one seat was bagged by the Congress.
Earlier on Tuesday, India TV-CNX opinion poll predicted that the state may witness a neck-and-neck contest between the BJP and BJD. The ruling party may get 11 seats, while BJP may secure 10 seats in the upcoming polls, the survey said.
PM Modi recounts development done in Odisha, refrain from attacking BJD govt
Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was in Odisha on Tuesday, said the BJP government is trying to make Odisha the gateway to Vikshit Bharat and Atma Nirbhar Bharat.
While addressing a huge public gathering at Chandikhole in Jajpur district, PM Modi said that the central government under BJP has invested hugely in Odisha.
“For the last 10 years, the BJP government has been hugely investing in Odisha. We are trying to make Odisha become the gateway of developed India,” PM Modi said.
He said that in the last 10 years, around Rs 2 lakh crore has been invested only in the Petrochemical sector in the state and Odisha is fast turning into a big centre of polyester industry. He said that more investment means more job opportunities for the youth in Odisha.
Referring to the huge gathering at the meeting, PM Modi said that the number indicates the mood of Odisha and the whole of eastern India.
“The congregation of such a huge gathering indicates the mood of eastern India. This clearly shows Odisha’s resolve for “Abki Bar 400 paar Sankalp “(this time more than 400 seats to BJP). This resolve is meant to make India the third-largest economy in the world. This resolution is to bring back the government to power that could make strong and decisive decisions. The resolution of ‘Abki Baar 400 paar’ is to change the lives of farmers, youths, women and the poor. Eastern India and Odisha in particular will play a big role in this,” said PM Modi.
PM Modi narrated how flagship programmes like Jan Dhan account, Mudra Loan, PM SVANidhi, and PM Vishwakarma brought huge transformation to the lives of the poor.
He targeted Congress saying that the feats of development could have been achieved by the previous Congress government but it was busy filling up its coffers.
He said the ideology of I.N.D.I.A bloc parties is family first but PM Modi’s ideology is nation first. He said that the aim of "Indi alliance" parties is to dethrone PM Modi while his resolve is to make India the third-largest economy in the world. The dynastic parties during their rule made their family members rich while PM Modi got 25 crore poor people in the country out of poverty.
He said that the whole of India is his family and this is a problem for "I.N.D.I alliance".
However, PM Modi did not criticise the ruling Biju Janata Dal or the Naveen Patnaik government in his speech on Tuesday.
PM Modi's silence on BJD has further added fuel to the speculations regarding a possible coalition between the BJP and the ruling BJD.
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