Though Patnaik has been camping here for the last five days, he is yet to convince loyalists in his own party about the need to end bickerings in view of the ensuing Lok Sabha polls.

Both Patnaik and Mahapatra had a broad agreement to end the animosity between them during their meeting at New Delhi recently. As per the rapprochement formula, a parliamentary board with Naveen Patnaik as the chairman and Mahapatra as the convenor was to be announced at Bhubaneswar. But Patnaik's indecision in this regard has led to a complete standstill in the BJD and the party is yet to prepare any poll strategies.

The ongoing instabilty in the BJD has, at the same time, thrown a spanner to the bid in strenghthening the anti-Congress forces in the state. The confusing scenario in the opposition ranks has alreadystarted worrying the Bharatiya Janata Party, the BJD's ally in Orissa.