BJP begins talks for front in Odisha ahead of polls

Ahead of Lok Sabha elections, the opposition BJP has begun talks with small parties in Odisha for a possible front to unitedly fight the ruling BJD and Congress.
"We have just started discussions. Nothing has so far been finalised. We will tell the media everything as soon as something is finalised," senior BJP leader and Odisha in-charge Chandan Mitra told reporters here today.
Mitra said discussions with Ama Odisha leader Soumya Ranjan Patnaik and Utkal Bharat president Kharvel Swain showed that they were interested in seat sharing with BJP to put up a united fight against BJD and Congress.
Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, the son-in-law of Assam Governor J B Patnaik, told reporters after talks with Mitra, "What is wrong in having a talk with BJP leaders? I have been holding talks with different leaders."

Soumya, who had a brief stint in BJP earlier, was recently expelled from Congress for anti-party activities.
Swain, a former BJP Lok Sabha MP who formed a new political outfit Utkal Bharat and was critical of his former party said, "BJP is gaining popularity after Modiji was named its prime ministerial candidate."
Mitra was also holding consultations on possible seat sharing with other parties in Odisha and would assess whether such alliances would be beneficial to the party interest, party sources said.
They said there was no indication of seat sharing with Odisha Janmorcha headed by Rajya Sabha MP Pyarimohan Mohapatra, who was expelled from BJD on charge of anti-party activities.