Bhakta Charan Das Accuses BJD Of 'Deal' With BJP For Odisha Lok Sabha Seats Amid Congress Talks

Taking a dig at Biju Janata Dal (BJD), Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Bhakta Charan Das on Sunday alleged that the regional party continues to be with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

“BJD has all along been maintaining close ties with BJP in Odisha. Both the parties continue to be together,” Das told reporters while responding to a query whether the Naveen Patnaik-led regional party is moving close to the opposition group.

Coming down heavily on BJD, the PCC chief alleged that the regional party faced a complete rout in the Lok Sabha elections last year because of its ‘deal’ with BJP.

Accusing BJD of having given away 20 Lok Sabha to BJP seats in the last elections in Odisha, Das said the regional party won 51 of the 147 Assembly seats in the state.

“BJD candidates won in 51 Assembly constituencies, but the party failed to win a single Lok Sabha seat in the state,” the state Congress chief said, and sought to know as to how BJD failed to manage a single Parliamentary seat.

The results amply proved that there was an understanding between BJD and BJP and the regional party gave away 20 Lok Sabha seats to the saffron outfit as part of the deal, he alleged.

The Congress leader’s remarks came at a time when speculations are rife that BJD and the national party are coming closer. Talks about Congress-BJD affinity have gained momentum particularly after both the parties attended the meeting on delimitation convened by DMK in Chennai. However, Bhakta’s remarks were in sharp contrast to the speculations.