The way BJD leaders are reacting almost daily prior to BJP national president Amit Shah’s three-day visit to the State from Wednesday is evident of the State’s ruling party’s sense of anxiety over Shah’s claim during his last visit that the BJP would capture 120 seats in the 147-member State Assembly in the next elections.
While BJD vice-president and Minister Surya Narayan Patro keeps stating that the BJD would bag 123 seats, party spokesperson Prashant Nanda on Tuesday virtually snubbed Patro taking the name of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Nanda said Patro’s prediction is his own, not the party’s. “The Chief Minister has given us mantra at party forums that we will fight for and win all the 147 seats,” he told the media.
And on Tuesday, Minister Bijayshree Routray joined the chorus, agreeing to Patro’s statement on 123 seats.
Routray, however inadvertently it may be, betrayed the BJP fear among BJD leaders when he said the ruling party has improved its position from what it was “four months ago”. He clearly meant that the BJD had weakened after the BJP’s impressive victory in the last panchayat polls.
BJP Odisha in-charge Arun Singh on Tuesday reiterated Shah’s 120-seat claim and said the BJD and the Congress would have to be satisfied with sharing the remaining 27 seats.