Advani tacit, chorus says no

BHUBANESWAR: Call it public posturing or shrewd political strategy, BJP patriarch L K Advani’s non-committal approach has given rise to the same poser: Are BJP and BJD inching towards a possible tieup in the future? Throughout his two-day Jan Chetna Yatra, Advani was not forthcoming on a future alliance leaving out many grey areas.But State BJP leaders minced no words saying it is all over with the BJD.Even the BJD leaders spoke up as much saying Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has made his stand clear on the issue.But the old adage, nothing is impossible in politics, is refusing to die down. Advani did not rule it out outright. “It (future tieup) is a speculative question, but the party is open to it,” Advani replied to a query at a media conference in  Sambalpur.Though leaders from both the parties apparently do not look enthusiastic and even deny such a possibility in the near future, developments during the last two days indicate there is definitely a thaw. At all his meetings, Advani chose not to talk about Naveen and his Government, reeling under several scams that have brought disgrace. And it was left to State president Jual Oram and national general secretary Dharmendra Pradhan to do the job at Angul. “Naveen will soon be in jail,” Pradhan thundered.Naveen Patnaik, who had adopted a wait-and-watch on the yatra’s impact in Orissa, did not react to the issue directly. “People of Orissa have blessed my party with a clear mandate to serve,” he said, soon after Advani spelt out the possible future course of action for the party in Orissa.BJD strategist and Rajya Sabha member Pyarimohan Mohapatra said as the Chief Minister has made his stand clear, there is nothing more to say. By stating that the BJD has a clear mandate, Naveen has rejected any such possibility, Mohapatra explained.For their part, Oram and Pradhan reiterated that the BJP would never have an alliance with a party which cheated them in 2009. In fact, strong factions in both sides do not want an alliance. After the 2009 polls, the BJD organisations have come up in all the 147 Assembly constituencies giving rise to aspirations of local leaders. They do not want to sacrifice all those in larger ‘party’s interest.’The BJP leaders too are keen on expanding the saffron. “We should rather concentrate on  strengthening the party from the grassroots level,” a senior BJP leader said.