Less than two months before the announcement of Lok Sabha polls, when the BJP and BJD were discussing an alliance in Odisha and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik received praise from Prime Minister Narendra Modi at public rallies, the latter asserted on Monday that the expiry date of the BJD Government in Odisha is June 4, the day when Lok Sabha and Assembly election results will be announced.

Addressing his first election rally in the State, Modi said, “Odisha mein BJD ast hain, Congress past hai aur log BJP per ashwasth hai. Sirf BJP ummido ka naya suraj ban kar ubhri hain (in Odisha, the BJD is setting sun, the Congress is battered and people are sure of BJP. And the BJP has emerged as the only ray of hope for the people).”

BJD leaders expressed dismay and complete shock over the PM’s ‘sharp attack’ on the party, as well as Patnaik, who left no stone unturned to support the NDA in Parliament. In February this year, he sent Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to the Rajya Sabha under the BJD quota.

Patnaik also regarded the BJP with a tacit strategy, as it never aligned with the Congress-led Opposition alliance or any Third Front, which was proposed a year ago by several non-BJP parties to challenge Modi in the Lok Sabha polls. Both parties were working to forge an alliance after breaking ties 15 years ago, though they cooperated in tandem on legislative matters.

In an apparent dig at Naveen Patnaik, the Prime Minister said, “Odisha needs a CM who understands Odia language and culture.” 

“The BJP will form a double-engine Government here after the ongoing elections. The expiry date of the BJD Government is June 4, 2024,” Modi said at the Berhampur rally.

When the talks were ongoing until they proved futile at the end of March, both Modi and Patnaik acknowledged each other’s contributions, despite not being partners in Governments.

The pact was formed in 1998, orchestrated by senior leaders Bijay Mohapatra and the BJP’s stalwart strategist late Pramod Mahajan. In 1998 Patnaik was Minister of Steel and Mines in the Vajpayee Cabinet.

“Naveen Patnaik always regarded the BJP as a party of late PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The alliance was successful and even when in between there were no trucks, the BJD was tacitly with BJP in every sphere and never aligned with the Opposition side,” said a BJD leader also quoting Patnaik’s reaction post Modi’s speech.

“BJP and Modi are day dreaming to capture Odisha, how foolish,” the leader quoted their CM which later went viral late evening.

Responding to Modi’s claim, senior BJD leader and Naveen Patnaik’s close aide VK Pandian said, “Patnaik would take oath as the Chief Minister of Odisha for the sixth consecutive time between 11.30 am and 1.30 pm on June 9.”

BJD-BJP alliance saw success in two Assembly elections and three Lok Sabha polls in Odisha. The partnership, forged in February 1998, enjoyed a strong foundation, with both parties successfully contesting Lok Sabha elections in 1998, 1999, and 2004, as well as Assembly elections in 2000 and 2004.

The strategic importance of Odisha, with its 21 Lok Sabha seats and 147 assembly seats, is not lost on either party. In the 2019 elections, BJD and BJP secured 12 and eight parliamentary constituencies and 112 and 23 Assembly constituencies, respectively.

The alliance could not materialise this year because for the Assembly elections which is being held simultaneously with the Lok Sabha, BJD was pushing for a larger share of seats, proposing to contest 105 out of the 147 available seats, leaving the BJP with 42 seats.

Simultaneously, in the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP expected to secure a significant portion of the seats. Of the 21 Lok Sabha seats in Odisha pressed for 13-14.

Once considered the BJP’s most reliable ally in the NDA, the alliance collapsed in 2009 following failed seat-sharing talks. The breakdown was officially attributed to the BJD’s demand for a reduction in the BJP’s share of assembly seats from 63 to around 40, and parliamentary seats from nine to six. This demand, deemed unreasonable by the BJP leaders, led to the withdrawal of support to Patnaik’s Government, marking the end of an 11-year political marriage. The withdrawal of support was termed by BJD as an “act of betrayal”.