Naveen Patnaik shaken with BJP rise, fuelling alliance speculation: Dharmendra Pradhan

Senior BJP leader Dharmendra Pradhan hinted Sunday his party may not project a chief ministerial face in Odisha, where assembly and Lok Sabha polls are held together, and asserted it will end the two-decade reign of Naveen Patnaik on the back of PM Narendra Modi's popular appeal and development work.

Pradhan, a Union minister and key BJP face from Odisha, also rejected the suggestion that his party was looking at Biju Janata Dal (BJD) as a potential ally after the Lok Sabha polls, saying Chief Minister Patnaik is fuelling such speculation as he was "shaken" with the saffron party's rise.

"We are in a direct fight with the BJD. We are sure to emerge as the number one party and also get a majority in the assembly. The BJP is rising and Modi enjoys a lot of credibility in the state. To survive this, he has spread this (speculation) that he may support the BJP," he told PTI in an interview.

Patnaik, a former ally of the BJP, has maintained that his party BJD believes in keeping equidistant from both the Congress and the BJP.

His decision to keep away from unity efforts of opposition parties has given rise to speculation that he is open to the possibility of supporting the saffron party