BJP says it will form govt in Odisha with ‘outside’ support, BJD calls it a ‘bad dream’

Reported by Chinmaya Dehury
Bhubaneswar, April 25:

The state BJP president KV Singhdeo today dropped broad hints about a possible split in the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD)  and claimed his party will be able to form the next government in Odisha by managing support from outside.

“We are quite confident that we will form the next government at the Centre and in the state. We expect to get 45-55 seats in Assembly and 9-14 seats in Lok Sabha. We will be able to manage the required number to form the government in the state,” said Singhdeo after a meeting of office bearers at the state partyheadquarters here.

Singhdeo said, although they will fall short of the magic number of 74 in the Assembly, they will manage to get the required number after the elections,  indicating that the party is pinning its hopes on a possible split in the ruling party.

He said the ruling party is in big trouble and struggling hard to keep its  flock together as many senior leaders have openly expressed their dissatisfaction over  ticket distribution.

However, the ruling BJD rubbished the claims of the saffron party saying they ‘live in illusion’ and that it’s only ‘a bad dream’.

“The claim of BJP to form the government in the state is a bad dream. The party had secured only six seats in the Assembly after we parted company with them in 2009 elections. They had secured 36 seats when they were with us. Though some seats of BJP will increase this time, it would not cross its record of 36 seats in any way,” said Damodar Rout, BJD vice-president claiming that BJD will come to power once again and form government under the leadership of Naveen Patnaik.