Mahtab then rose to intervene, reading from a prepared text, clearly prepared to counter the Congress and back the government. While the BJD has always trod the middle path vis-à-vis the BJP and the Congress, Mahtab, on Wednesday, virtually snubbed the Congress while backing Modi. This time BJD boss and Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik has selected Puri MP Pinaki Mishra to be the party’s leader in the Lok Sabha. “We are, however, not in a hurry and waiting for things to turn in our favour,” a BJP leader said. The party, however, hopes that by the next Assembly elections in 2024, the BJD would split and many leaders would join the BJP.

Source: The Telegraph July 17, 2019 20:25 UTC