Former Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik. | ANI
Amid growing turmoil within the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), party president and former Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has assured that he will examine the issue of BJD MPs voting differently on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, which recently became law. The controversy has deepened internal divisions, especially after V.K. Pandian, Patnaik’s close aide, was blamed for both the party’s Assembly election defeat and its unclear stand on the Bill.
The party’s decision to leave voting in the Rajya Sabha to individual MPs’ discretion drew sharp criticism. Patnaik defended BJD’s secular credentials, recalling how the party had once ended its alliance with the BJP over the 2008 anti-Christian violence. “We have always stood by minorities and will continue to do so. I will review what happened in Parliament and take necessary steps,” he said.
BJD MP Muzibulla Khan, who voted against the Bill, led a delegation of Muslim community members to Patnaik’s residence, demanding an explanation for the party’s stance. Khan later challenged those who supported the Bill to leave the BJD and join the BJP. Protests erupted outside Patnaik’s home, with party workers demanding Pandian’s ouster from the state.
Meanwhile, senior MP Debasish Samantray indirectly held Pandian responsible for the party’s recent failures. Samantray abstained from voting, following a social media post by Rajya Sabha leader Sasmit Patra announcing there would be no Whip.
Khan claimed he was stunned by the party’s sudden shift, especially after Patnaik had repeatedly expressed opposition to the Bill. Once a tightly controlled power center, ‘Naveen Niwas’ has now seen open dissent—something unheard of in earlier years.
Several BJD MPs, however, came to Pandian’s defense, arguing that he had stepped away from politics nearly a year ago and was no longer involved in party affairs. MPs Manas Mangaraj, Niranjan Bishi, Sulata Deo, and Subhasish Khuntia condemned the personal attacks, but the widening rift suggests serious fissures within the BJD.
