Bhubaneswar: Discontent continues to simmer within the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) over the party’s recent flip-flop on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill. In an effort to defuse the unrest, party president and former Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik convened a meeting with senior leaders, assuring them that appropriate corrective measures would be taken to address the concerns.
A group of young leaders, including several MLAs, also met separately to discuss the issue and submitted a memorandum to Patnaik, urging him not to help the BJP any more, as the BJD had done several times when it was in power.
Sources said the young leaders are likely to meet Patnaik Wednesday.
The BJD did not issue a whip when the contentious Waqf (Amendment) Bill came up for voting in Rajya Sabha and left it to the conscience of the MPs. Sasmit Patra, the leader of the BJD in the Upper House, had said the previous day that the party would oppose the legislation.
So, some of the BJD MPs voted in support of the Bill while others voted against it.
A section of BJD leaders is seeing this as a way to help the BJP, and they are accusing bureaucrat-turned-politician VK Pandian, considered close to the BJD president, of being responsible for the party’s change of stance.
Disgruntled party supporters raised slogans against Pandian, who announced his retirement from active politics following the BJD’s defeat in the 2024 General and Odisha Assembly elections, near Patnaik’s residence, ‘Naveen Niwas’, Monday.
The Waqf (Amendment) Bill was passed by the Lok Sabha, where the BJD has no member, Thursday, and by the Rajya Sabha in the early hours of Friday after marathon debates in both Houses of Parliament.
Patnaik held a meeting with ex-RS MP Anang Uday Singh Deo, BJD deputy leader in the assembly Prasanna Acharya, and former minister Debi Prasad Mishra Tuesday.
According to party sources, the former chief minister sought their opinions and gave a message to the party’s rank and file to maintain discipline, stating that he will take necessary actions.
Patnaik, the sources said, told the senior leaders to ensure that the BJD’s secular credential as a political party should not be affected at any cost in the wake of the Waqf Bill voting as the Congress, another opposition party in Odisha, might take advantage.
“Of the 147 assembly segments of the state, Muslims play a major role in 20. The BJD has been getting the Muslim votes since 2000 after they rejected Congress. The party does not want them to go back to Congress,” a senior leader said.
The anger in the community was visible from Monday’s sloganeering in Naveen Niwas, he said.
“This is not a small matter. Everybody knows Patnaik loves silence. But, a section of workers created noise to draw his attention,” he said.
Meanwhile, young leaders including some sitting MLAs got together at the residence of a former MLA and discussed the matter, sources said.
The young leaders, mostly sons of ex-MLAs and former ministers, who have sizable followings in their area, have submitted a memorandum to Patnaik through senior leader Debi Prasad Mishra and expressed worries over the development after the Waqf Bill voting incident.
These young generation leaders urged the BJD president not to send confusing signals to the party workers by supporting any national party as it demoralises them, sources said.
“The BJD has already paid a heavy price in the last 2024 general elections and Assembly polls for supporting the BJP on various occasions. The party cannot further sustain losses by supporting the Bills and policies of the BJP,” a young leader said.
The young leaders also said that the BJD was functioning smoothly because Patnaik used to take action for breach of discipline.
“Now also, he should take similar action against those creating indiscipline,” they said in the memorandum.
