Bhubaneswar, June 22: The BJP and the Akalis having decided to throw in their lot with P.A. Sangma in race to the Raisina Hill, Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik and the BJD finding themselves vindicated.
“I was the first to propose his name. I am happy he is gaining strength,” said Naveen talking to reporters at the secretariat here today apparently happy at the prospect of a direct contest between Sangma and UPA nominee Pranab Mukherjee.
BJD sources said Naveen, who has been in constant touch with his Tamil Nadu counterpart J. Jayalalithaa, who along with him, had propped up Sangma as a candidate, was likely to speak to the leaders of some other like-minded parties on the issue.
Though BJD leaders ruled out the chances of Naveen coming close to the BJP once again following the saffron party’s decision to back the Meghalaya leader in the presidential race, political observers feel that it is too early to arrive at such a conclusion.
“In politics, nothing can be ruled out, but elections are still far away. If the BJP wants to woo back Naveen, they have a lot of time to do so,” said an analyst.
Sources in the Odisha BJP said they were not averse to a tie up with the BJD despite the bitterness of the past, but the party’s central leadership took such decisions. “As of today, we are rivals and there are many in the party, who continue to feel bitter about the way the chief minister broke his party’s alliance with us,” said a BJP leader.
Within the BJD there was a lot of appreciation for the courage and determination shown by Sangma, who resigned from the NCP after the party sought to bar him from contesting the presidential election, as it happens to be a constituent of the UPA.
By taking the gamble, Sangma also seems to have risked his daughter Agatha’s ministerial berth, as UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi is unlikely to take kindly to the former Lok Sabha speaker’s decision to throw his hat into the presidential ring.
The NCP, too, is reported to have cautioned Agatha against campaigning for her father, but BJD sources here said she was unlikely to heed such counsel.
“That Sangma had a mind of his own had become clear when he raised the foreigner issue much to the chagrin of Sonia Gandhi. From what we have gathered Agatha is equally strong willed and would defy any diktat that goes against her father’s interest,” said a senior BJD leader.
