Bhubaneswar, March 15: Sharad Yadav-led JD(U) is now eager to enter into an alliance with the BJP in Orissa.

“We will like to have an alliance with the BJP in Orissa if the latter agrees,” confirmed JD(U) national youth president Govind Yadav (in picture) today. The party already has BJP as its ally in Bihar, Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan. Earlier, they had no truck with the BJP in the state as it had an alliance with the BJD.

Yadav also confirmed that the party was now “talking” with BJP state leaders after the BJD-BJP alliance break up. “It’s up to the BJP leadership to decide,” he said. However, BJP national secretary and party MP Dharmendra Pradhan denied having received a formal proposal from the JD(U).

Yadav agreed that the JD(U) will fight the Congress and BJD in Orissa and were talking to like-minded parties opposing the two parties in Orissa.

Yadav and state party president Chittaranjan Mohanty said if the JD(U) fights the coming elections alone, it would context 25-30 Assembly seats and two Lok Sabha seats.

The major electoral plank of the party would be farmers’ cause and the present government’s neglect and apathy.

When Janata Dal was in power in the state in the early Nineties, it was protected the state and the national interest, said Yadav. However, when the party split and BJD came to power it protected the interest of multi-national companies, alleged both JD(U) leaders.

In fact, BJD was the main splinter group of former Janata Dal in Orissa, while JD(U) and JD(S) had little presence. While JD(S) had one MLA in the Assembly in 2000, JD(U) had no representation in the legislature. In 2007, JD(S) state unit merged with Nationalist Congress Party, while JD(U) was present in pockets.