BJD to back BJP candidate Ashwini Vaishnav for seat in Rajya Sabha

The bonhomie between the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), who were allies from 1998 to 2009, is back. The BJP on Friday nominated former bureaucrat Ashwini Vaishnav as its candidate for the Rajya Sabha bypolls in Odisha, with the ruling BJD announcing its support to him, making his victory certain.

Vaishnav was the private secretary to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee. In a press statement, the BJD said subsequent to their party chief Naveen Patnaik’s discussions with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah, the BJP would support the candidature of Vaishnav.

It said Vaishnav, a former Indian Administrative Service officer, has also worked in Odisha apart from his association with Vajpayee. There is speculation that the BJP could offer BJD’s Bhartruhari Mahtab the post of deputy speaker of the Lok Sabha.

In the just-concluded Assembly polls in the state, which coincided with the Lok Sabha elections, Patnaik led his party to victory for a fifth successive time.

The BJD has 112 members in the 146-seat state Assembly. With these numbers, the BJD could have won all three Rajya Sabha vacancies from Odisha, but has opted to support the candidature Vaishnav.

After floating the BJD in 1997, Patnaik allied with the BJP for the 1998 Lok Sabha polls and served as a minister in Vajpayee’s cabinet. He has had cordial relations with Vaishnav ever since. The BJD-BJP alliance won the 2000 Assembly polls with Patnaik becoming the chief minister.

Patnaik parted ways with the BJP in 2009 after the Kandhamal riots. However, the development suggests the two could be returning to warmer ties. The BJP believes Odisha, along with West Bengal and Telangana, is one state where it can grow in the times to come.