BJD keeps Opposition front guessing on Prez poll

New Delhi: After the Jaganmohan Reddy-led YSR Congress came out openly in support of the BJP for the presidential polls, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), which has been equidistant from both the Congress and the BJP, has begun sending mixed signals. Despite being routed in the recent civic polls in Odisha by the BJP, the BJD is yet to come on board with the Opposition on extending support to a non-NDA presidential candidate.

Three top Opposition leaders — Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury — have already met BJD chief and Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik over the issue. However, though Mr Patnaik agreed with the need for all Opposition parties to come together to stem the tide of right-wing forces, he has not yet come on board officially, sources told this newspaper.

They said that despite the BJP rapidly gaining ground in the state, the BJD chief was “still obsessing about the Congress” and felt that “the Congress was still enemy No. 1”.

It is on this apprehension that Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who has taken the lead in getting the Opposition to flock together for the presidential polls, has not opened any direct channels with Mr Patnaik, and has rather asked other parties to carry forward the dialogue.

Another factor which was preventing Mr Patnaik from making up his mind was the BJP floating the name of Draupadi Murmu, who is a tribal woman from Odisha, as one of the NDA’s presidential candidates. If the ruling party at the Centre throws up the name of Ms Murmu, then it will become very difficult for Mr Patnaik to not back her considering his regional compulsions.

Support from the BJD, which has more than 32,500 votes, can give the Opposition a fighting chance against the ruling NDA in the election.

Mr Patnaik’s party is traditionally opposed to the Congress, but has also woken up to the increasing threat it faces the state from the BJP. In the recent panchayat polls in Odisha, the BJP improved its tally by 850 per cent, eating mostly into the Congress’ traditional votes.

Interestingly, in the last presidential polls in 2012, it was Mr Patnaik and AIADMK’s J. Jayalalithaa who first fielded P.A. Sangma as an independent candidate. Mr Sangma’s candidature was quickly supported by the BJP and its allies, leading to a contest against UPA’s nominee Pranab Mukherjee.

With the NDA having nearly 410 MPs and over 1,600 MLAs, the estimated votes the coalition could muster added up to nearly over 5,32,000.

Jagan Mohan Reddy’s YSR Congress has pledged its support to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The TRS and the AIADMK have also given clear signals that they would support the ruling coalition’s candidate.

If these two parties support NDA, then it would easily be able to get the 5,49,441 votes needed to get its candidate elected.