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The Biju Janata Dal (BJD), today, announced its association with Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) for upcoming Lok Sabha and state assembly elections in two tribal dominated districts, Mayurbhanj and Sundergarh.
“BJD will have seat sharing arrangements with JMM in the forthcoming general elections. I am sure that both the parties will do very well jointly in Mayurbhanj and Sundergarh districts,” BJD president and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said.
The announcement was made after the ruling party had a preliminary discussion with JMM Odisha unit chief, Sudam Marandi at the chief minister’s residence today.
However, the number of assembly and Lok Sabha seats to be left for JMM in the two districts has not been finalised yet.
“Initial discussion has been held, but the actual sharing of seats between the two parties is yet to be finalised. I want Naveen Patnaik to be the Chief Minister for the fourth consecutive term and to continue developmental works for the tribals,” Marandi said.
On Wednesday, BJD vice-president Kalpataru Das had indicated that the ruling party could enter into tie-up with some political parties, excluding Congress and BJP, for some specific constituencies.
The BJD has been compelled to enter into seat sharing arrangements in anticipation of tight contest from Congress and other parties in tribal populated areas. The arrangement has been announced to prevent Congress from winning at these districts, sources said.
This is not the first time BJD has gone for seat sharing without a formal pre-poll alliance. In 2009, it had similar arrangements with the Left parties and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) for Lok Sabha and assembly polls.
The announcement by BJD is the first such poll-related understanding between the parties in Odisha for the 2014 elections, as talks by Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to have similar arrangement with some fringe parties has not yielded any result so far.
