: With the BJD announcing the first phase of its nominees for the Assembly and Lok Sabha seats and BJP having done it earlier in which it has made public names of its candidates for 18 out of 21 LS seats in the State, many in lobby for tickets from both parties, who had otherwise apprehended of being ditched over a possible tie-up between the two parties, are now feeling relaxed.
In the event of a tie-up between BJD and BJP, around 150 ticket aspirants on both sides would have been deprived of the opportunities to fight Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, said sources. Many are hopeful of making into the list of nominees in the second phase of the BJD and BJP which may be announced shortly.
Though both parties held parleys for over two weeks to give a shape to the much-contemplated coalition concept ostensibly to keep the Congress away, none of them proffered any reason as to why they parted ways. Reliable sources in both parties, however, said the two could not reach a consensus on the contentious seat-sharing issue.
The BJD, which won 115 of the 147 assembly seats (including three in by-elections) and 12 of 21 Lok Sabha berths in the 2019 elections, did not budge from its demand to contest from at least 100 Assembly and eight Lok Sabha constituencies. Besides, it was also bent on not allowing the BJP lawmakers to be inducted in the State Council of Ministers post the polls.
“It is a big relief for us. We have a solid vote bank base which will enable us to win at least three-fourth Lok Sabha and Assembly seats. I narrowly lost to my BJP rival by a margin of 1,433 votes in the 2019 elections. Had there been seat-sharing arrangements this time, my seat would have been allotted to the BJP. Though I have worked hard since 2019 and see a possibility of winning now, I would have been deprived of the opportunity to contest,” said a BJD candidate hailing from Mayurbhanj district.
A BJP ticket aspirant, who lost to the BJD candidate by a narrow margin of 740 votes in 2019, said he felt let down after the coalition talks almost advanced to a stage of finalization.
“After I lost by a narrow margin of 740 votes in 2019, I had fully concentrated on my constituency all these years. I was heart-broken after top leaders of both parties held talks for a coalition. Now, I feel relaxed. My workers are quite happy now that the talks failed and they would go all-out to ensure victory for me,” said a lady BJP ticket aspirant requesting anonymity.