The bonhomie between the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who were allies from 1998 to 2009, is back. The BJP on Friday nominated former bureaucrat Ashwini Vaishnav as its candidate for the Rajya Sabha bypolls in Odisha, with the ruling BJD announcing its support to him, making his victory certain.
Vaishnav was the private secretary to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. In a press statement, the BJD said subsequent to their party chief Naveen Patnaik’s discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah, the BJP would support the candidature of Vaishnav.
It said