BHUBANESWAR: Odisha chief minister and BJD chief Naveen Patnaik on Thursday chose the defeat of the BJP in UP Lok Sabha bypolls to take jibe at the saffron party.
“The BJP is sinking, sinking quite fast,” Mr Patnaik said while replying to queries by mediapersons on the recent resurgence of the saffron party in several states, including Odisha.
After crawling at third spot for decades in Odisha state politics, the BJP surged to number two slot in the 2017 panchayat polls. And again in the recently held Assembly bypoll at Bijepur in Bargarh district, the saffron party finished the second pushing the Congress to the third place.
The byelection to Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats came as a huge blow for the Yogi Adityanath-ruled BJP in the state.
Both the seats were pocketed by Samajwadi Party by a massive margin.
To another poser on forming an alliance with anti-BJP forces, the Odisha CM said, “We haven’t thought of any alliance for the time being. There are no such thoughts.”
