Bhubaneswar, Mar 12: At a time when the issue of the purposed BJD-BJP coalition has remained the talk of the town, two units of national-level media have come up with their opinions as to why the BJD, which has been in power for the last 25 years, seeks an alliance with the BJP now.

Amid discussions going on between the leaders of the two parties, two articles, one on the NDTV website by senior journalist Amitabh Tiwari and another on THE FEDERAL by journalist Ruben Banerjee have found out reasons why the BJD is opting for an alliance with the main opposition party of the State.

According to them, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi's popularity is increasing all over the country before the general elections, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik may be finding it hard to fight the Modi wave.

Amitabh Tiwari opined that if the BJD does not join the NDA before the election, the importance of BJD may be reduced after the results are announced.

The NDA may have a majority in the Rajya Sabha next April. Therefore, the Modi government may not need the support of the BJD to pass important bills in the Rajya Sabha. Thus the BJD's importance will decrease.

While it is being discussed CM Naveen is likely to promote former bureaucrat VK Naveen Patnaik as his successor, dissidents may oppose this. If such a situation arises, BJP's support may be sought to facilitate this process.

If there is no coalition, BJP may try to form a government taking the opponents of Pandian.

Naveen Patnaik will once again become the Chief Minister, that too for a record number of sixth time, without interruption. As Lok Sabha and Assembly elections are being held simultaneously in the state, there is a risk of division of votes.

The power of regional parties is decreasing under Modi's leadership. The main opposition BJP has blamed Pandian's non-Odisha background, which will affect the importance of BJD as a regional party. It will not be a big issue if the BJP gets involved. On the other hand, the state Congress is weakening and the central leadership is not open about this issue. Therefore, it is a big plan of Pandian to weaken the plan of the opposition, said senior journalist Ruben Banerjee.

On the other hand, while the public support for the BJP is increasing across the country, the central leaders want to align with the BJD in Odisha. It will be very helpful for Prime Minister Modi's slogan Ab Ki Baar, 400 Par.

Earlier, the BJD supported the Central government in passing various important bills in the Parliament. Even the support of BJD in Rajya Sabha has benefited the BJP.

Meanwhile, former BJP state president Kanak Vardhan Singhdeo said, "We are keeping an eye on the Delhi meeting. We are disciplined activists of the party. The soldier of the party or the soldier of the country accepts whatever is decided in the interest of the country."

On the other hand, BJD MP Prasanna Acharya said, "Development, progress and growth of Odisha is our first and last issue. The Biju Janata Dal is doing all that is necessary to achieve that goal and take forward the development of the state."

He said the party supremo would take a final decision.

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