Conscience voting by BJD MPs in the Rajya Sabha on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill has taken many senior leaders of the party by surprise. The episode has exposed the fissures within the regional party that ruled the state for 24 years and is now playing the role of main opposition. This is being seen as another example of the party’s political duplicity which despite having declared in the past that it won’t even give issue-based support to BJP anymore has once again taken a stance which has helped the saffron party.
The Biju Janata Dal (BJD), now the main opposition party in the state, seems to be caught in political turmoil following conscience voting by its Rajya Sabha members on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill 2025 which has since become an act. The development took even senior leaders of the party by surprise as the party had earlier decided that it would oppose the bill tooth and nail. With dissension mounting within the party over the issue some leaders have launched direct attacks on former chief minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik.
The news of conscience voting broke after senior BJD leader Sasmit Patra in a post on X said, “The Biju Janata Dal has always upheld the principles of secularism and inclusivity, ensuring the rights of all communities. We deeply respect the diverse sentiments expressed by different sections of the Minority communities regarding the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024.”
“Our Party, having taken these views into careful consideration, has entrusted our Hon’ble Members in the Rajya Sabha with the responsibility of exercising their conscience in the best interest of justice, harmony and the rights of all communities, should the Bill come up for voting. There is no Party Whip,” the MP added.
The post came as a surprise for BJD leaders who were aware of the party’s earlier decision to oppose the Waqf (Amendment) Bill. Many rushed to Naveen Nivas, the residence of party supremo and former chief minister Naveen Patnaik to express their displeasure. While Patnaik, who outwardly continues to maintain the policy of equidistance from Congress and BJP, is yet to make a statement on the issue, former minister Badri Narayan Patra smelt a conspiracy behind the development. “There is some game going on behind it. But this is not good for the party,” he said, hoping that action would be taken against anyone who has gone against the secular principles of the party. He also questioned the absence of a whip by the party ahead of voting on the bill in the Rajya Sabha.
Sources within the party said that while Patra voted in favour of the bill Muzibulla Khan, popularly known as Munna Khan voted against it and Debasis Samantaray abstained from voting. No one, however, seems to be sure about the voting pattern adopted by four other Rajya Sabha members of BJD. Almost immediately after voting Patra left for Tashkent as part of a parliamentary delegation and desisted from commenting on the episode.
While Kendrapara MLA Ganeshwar Behera questioned the role of Patra and wondered if his decision to vote according to his conscience was also the decision of the party, veteran leader Prafulla Samal shot off a letter to Naveen Patnaik seeking a review of the development which can have serious repercussions for the party which has already lost two of its Rajya Sabha members to the BJP.
Former minister Pratap Jena, too, felt there was a conspiracy behind the sudden change of stand by BJD MPs on the Bill. In a letter to Patnaik he said there was a need to closely examine the X post of Patra.
Former BJD MLA Pravat Tripathy launched a blistering attack on Patnaik’s former aide, IAS-turned-politician VK Pandian, hinting at the possibility of his involvement in the conscience voting episode. This got Patnaik’s goat who in a statement urged party leaders to refrain from criticizing Pandian who, he claimed, had nothing to do with the party’s affairs anymore. He also asserted that Tripathy had been expelled from the BJD and was no longer a part of it.
The development has given the BJP an opportunity to target the BJD leadership for not being able to ensure unity in the party. One of the saffron party MLAs taunted the BJD leadership saying they are unable to keep the party united. “Unity continues to elude them. They are struggling. People have already rejected them,” he said.
The conscience voting episode has only added to the already existing confusion within BJD which, ever since its shock defeat in 2024 elections, is struggling to get its act together. Though the party has 51 MLAs in the state assembly and Naveen Patnaik happens to be the leader of opposition the regional party has, so far, failed to build up public movements on crucial issues. Even within the assembly it appears to be playing second fiddle to the Congress all the 14 of whose MLAs were recently suspended from the legislature for causing a ruckus over their demand for the formation of a committee to examine cases of atrocities against women. The party also organised a highly successful rally on the issue near the state assembly.
Most political analysts think that Congress despite having fewer MLAs in the assembly compared to the BJD has been playing the role of real opposition while the regional party, slowly but steadily appears to be ceding the opposition space to the Congress which has been galvanized under the leadership of its new state president, former union minister Bhakta Charan Das.
The BJD’s lacklustre performance in the state assembly and its apparent reluctance to take on the BJP has raised question marks not only over its secular credentials but also its bona fides with regard to its avowed policy of maintaining equidistance from Congress and the BJP. Many people were surprised when BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik skipped the DMK-sponsored anti-delimitation meet at Chennai on March 22 after promising to attend the conclave. Instead he sent two senior BJD leaders to Chennai as his representatives and addressed the meeting virtually. However, his absence at the meet came as a relief for the BJP which, according to highly placed sources, had tried to prevail upon him not to visit Chennai.
Patnaik’s policy of equidistance from BJP and Congress has faced criticism in the past as well with the former chief minister’s party backing the BJP-led NDA several times in the parliament during his 24-year rule in Odisha. It extended support to the NDA on highly controversial issues like scrapping of article 370 and the Citizenship Amendment Act which earned him the wrath of Muslim leaders who met him at his residence to express their disappointment. Patnaik tried to placate them by assuring that he would not allow the implementation of some of the controversial provisions connected with the Citizenship Amendment Act in Odisha.
His political duplicity was, however, hard to conceal and he was repeatedly accused by the Congress-led opposition of having a fixed bout with the BJP in the state. While his apparent bonhomie with Prime Minister Narendra Modi sent wrong signals to the electorate, his repeated support for the BJP in the parliament exposed him to criticism from different quarters. The BJP took advantage of the steady erosion in his public image and succeeded in deposing him in the 2024 election.
