India, March 19 -- Chief minister Naveen Patnaik's aide VK Pandian on Tuesday said that the alliance talks between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Odisha's ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) were beyond politics and a mark of great statesmanship of two great leaders. He said Patnaik and Prime Minister Narendra Modi do not need it to get re-elected.

"...Patnaik does not require the BJP support to win the sixth term in Odisha. I would say the same thing about...Modi," he told News18. He added the alliance has no electoral value for the BJD or BJP. "If anything [alliance] happens, we will get to know."

Pandian, who was Patnaik's private secretary and quit the Indian Administrative Service in October 2023 to join BJD, said the chief minister...