BJP trying an AIADMK-style split in BJD, says Odisha MP

The BJP is trying to create an AIADMK-style split in the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in Odisha and freeze its name and symbol in the hope of winning the next election, a party MP has alleged.

As more than 300 top BJP leaders prepare to converge in Bhubaneswar for a two-day conclave on April 15 and 16, senior BJD MP Tathagata Satpathy said the BJP is working hard to divide his party.

“BJP hard at work to divide @bjd_odisha  in Parliament, maybe even in Assembly. They want AIADMK-type split,” Satpathy tweeted on Monday. “They want to take away @bjd_odisha’s party name & symbol. Rumours afloat that only one MP will swing this deal for them. Ha!”

The decision to hold the conclave in Bhubaneswar came following the BJP’s spectacular showing in February’s panchayat polls in Odisha. Of the 846 zila parishad seats in Odisha for which polls were held in five phases from February 13, the BJD won 473 seats and the BJP 297. The Congress was left with just 60 seats.

Though the BJD emerged as the strongest regional party by some distance, it is not as resounding as the 654 seats it won in the previous panchayat elections in 2012 when the Congress had come a distant second with 128 and the BJP a poor third with 36.