New Delhi, Mar 8 : After losing a critical ally in BJD, a shocked BJP chief Rajnath Singh on Sunday said that he could not ‘ever imagine’ that Naveen Patnaik-led party would the 11-year-old ties with the saffron party which is now working on a fresh strategy ahead of the polls.

"I feel it is unfortunate. We could not ever imagine that the BJP-BJD alliance will break down," Singh said. The saffron party accused the BJD of unilaterally breaking the alliance ahead of the Lok Sabha and Assembly polls in the state.

"It was a decision of the BJD to break the alliance. Our party leaders are meeting to chalk out the future course of action," the BJP leader said.

According to sources, the BJP has not given up and the top leadership has activated ‘unofficial channels’ to rescue the alliance.

"The late-night happening was unfortunate. It is not beneficial for both BJP and BJD. Non-Congress vote is sure to be divided but all is not over," a top party leader said.

The sources said that BJP is trying to convince the BJD that the Lok Sabha and the assembly elections under President's rule would be damaging to the Patnaik's party.

The only fear for the saffron brigade is of BJD siding with the Third Front, they said.

Apart from Orissa, the party is slated to discuss coalition developments in Bihar, Maharashtra, Punjab and Haryana as it is worried that the Orissa developments could trigger more tantrums from allies like JD(U) in Bihar and Shiv Sena in Maharashtra.

L K Advani, who is slated to address a rally in Dehradoon later in the day, would be rushing back to the capital to attend the crucial meet on Sunday evening.

The development is perceived as a setback to the 'Advani for PM' campaign.

Late Saturday night, the BJP-BJD alliance ended after the talks over seat-sharing in the forthcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly polls failed.

The BJP withdrew support from the Navin Patnaik led Government and demanded the imposition of President's rule in the state.

Left supports Patnaik government, hopes to forge alliance

The Left on Sunday came out in support of the Naveen Patnaik government, which was reduced to a minority following snapping of ties with ally BJP, and even hinted at forging an alliance with the BJD for the upcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Orissa.