BJD will not be part of 'Mahagathabandhan' or NDA: Naveen Patnaik

Bhubaneswar, Jan 9: Biju Janata Dal (BJD) President and Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik Wednesday declared that BJD will not be part of the Mahagathabandhan or NDA. The party will continue to remain equidistant from both BJP and Congress.

"The party will continue to remain equidistant from both BJP and the Congress," the Biju Janata Dal President told news agency ANI.

On Tuesday, participating in the BJD's sit-in here seeking an increase in the minimum support price for paddy, Patnaik alleged that the BJP ignored the demand despite promising it in its manifesto for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

The Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) has stepped up efforts to increase footprint in Odisha. It had won only one out of the 21 Lok Sabha seats in the 2014 parliamentary elections. The BJD had won 20 seats and the Congress zero. After its impressive win in panchayat elections in the state in 2017, the BJP has shifted focus on the state with an aim to upstage the BJD.

(With PTI inputs)