No infighting in BJD, says Naveen Patnaik

Biju Janata Dal (BJD) President and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday dismissed reports of infighting within the party.

"I don't feel there is any infighting in the party. Where is the infighting in the party?" Patnaik told reporters after returning here from a five-day New Delhi visit.

He also denied that the party was getting weaker in the state.

"I don't think it is becoming weaker at all. Where is it going weaker? We have won four terms and we are the largest party in the state," said Patnaik.

With the opposition parties alleging that the BJD would be forging an alliance with the BJP in the backdrop of his visit to ailing former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in New Delhi, Patnaik clarified: "That is not true. I heard that Vajpayee was not feeling well, so I made a courtesy call... That is all."

He also said that during his New Delhi visit, he had not discussed with any political party leader to nominate a united opposition candidate for the forthcoming presidential election.

"No plans yet and there were no discussions in Delhi as far as I am concerned," he clarified.

Reacting to the controversial article authored by BJD MP Bhartruhari Mahtab in an Odia newspaper, the BJD President said he has not gone through the article yet.

"As BJP is going all out to prepare its strategy for the upcoming Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in 2019, which, it seems, has made BJD upset. As a result, BJD is giving statements out of desperation, which exposes its weakness," Mahtab wrote.