Following veiled overtures from Amit Shah, former chief minister Madhu Koda appears to be warming up to the idea of supporting the BJP if it falls short of a majority.

At a campaign rally in Lohardaga on November 16, Shah said no one from the Congress, which supported Koda, had gone to jail, but “the poor adivasi” had to go to jail. Though he added he was not supporting Koda, Shah’s attack was targeted solely at the Congress. On November 24 at Adityapur, Shah mentioned Koda a second time, only to blame the Congress again.

The BJP might need the support of Koda. It has already had to revise its campaign rhetoric of forming a government on its own once, when it formed alliances with the AJSU Party and the LJP. It is only in two seats, however, that Koda’s party the Jai Bharat Samanta Party is seen as a serious contender. Of its 19 candidates, only Koda himself and his wife Geeta are considered winnable — particularly the latter, sitting legislator from Jagannathpur.

When this newspaper met Koda at his village in Patahatu in Jagannathpur, he said he had heard about what Shah had said. “I have always been in touch with the BJP. But no one has been contacted now about alliances. There is nothing to talk about now. We will talk about it after elections,” he said. He has an RSS background and was in the Bajrang Dal before winning on a BJP ticket in 2000.

Koda’s openness to talks is a change from his stand during the Lok Sabha elections. When this newspaper met him on the campaign trail for his wife, Koda had admitted his party had almost merged with the Congress. “My thinking is more aligned with the UPA than the BJP,” he had said. He had also criticised Narendra Modi by saying there was a “zameen-aasmaan” difference between Gujarat and Jharkhand and that Modi wanted to implement his Gujarat model everywhere.

Koda, out on bail, is confident the three cases against him will not result in a conviction. His supporters say the evidence is weak; Koda himself said: “Weak? There is no evidence at all. Not directly, not indirectly.” He described the figure of Rs 4,000 crore, the size of the scam often attributed to him, as a media construct. “The DA case only mentions a figure of Rs 8 to 9 crore. The prosecution has nothing against me,” he said.

📣 The Indian Express is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@indianexpress) and stay updated with the latest headlines

For all the latest India News, download Indian Express App.