DEBABRATA MOHANTY

BHUBANESWAR, JUNE 29: Hoping to beat any possible anti-incumbency sentiments, the ruling BJD-BJP alliance in Orissa is preparing to hold the Assembly election simultaneously with the Lok Sabha polls if a snap poll takes place. Although the Opposition Congress is in no great health to offer any effective resistance to the coalition, the alliance leaders are all-set to hitch an electoral ride with BJP prime ministerial candidate L K Advani.

While speculation about early Assembly polls have been in the air for quite some time, it became amply clear on Saturday night at the end of a meeting of the 170-member BJP State Executive Committee at steel city Rourkela attended by Advani himself. The party is likely to declare the names of its Lok Sabha and Assembly candidates by the end of August in consultation with the Biju Janata Dal.

A senior BJP leader told The Indian Express that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is ready to prepone the Assembly polls by six to seven months to coincide it with a possible Lok Sabha poll in November 2008. “It’s near certain. As and when the Lok Sabha is dissolved we will follow suit,” said the leader. BJP state president Suresh Pujari, national vice president Jual Oram and other state leaders on Sunday attended a joint public meeting addressed by Patnaik and Advani signalling the formulation of a future joint strategy to fight the polls.

BJP sources said at the State Executive Meeting, Advani stressed on adhering to the 84:63(BJD: BJP) ratio in Assembly polls, which has been in effect since the 2000, when the two parties first tied up electorally. The two parties have also agreed to swap some of the Assembly seats in view of the delimitation of constituencies to maintain a winning edge. Both the BJD and BJP are aware of the difficulty in retaining their strength in the forthcoming Assembly polls, as the image of most of the legislators and ministers has taken a considerable fall in the public eye and the two parties also fought bitterly in last four years with several public spats between the BJD and BJP leaders.

While Patnaik is perceived as being ‘cleaner’ than his colleagues—despite his lack lustre tenure so far—the Orissa BJP is suffering from a serious crisis of credibility with some of its leaders seen as ‘power hungry’ and ‘utterly dishonest’. The BJD enjoys a similar reputation. Aware of its shortcomings, the coalition has now decided to use this year’s double-digit inflation as a weapon against the Congress.

editor@expressindia.com