PUSHED BY PATNAIK, BJD TAKES OFF GLOVES AGAINST MODI GOVT, JOINS OPP IN HOUSE PROTEST, WALKOUTS

During Prime Minister Narendra Modi's reply in the Rajya Sabha Wednesday to the debate on the motion of thanks on the President's address, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MPs joined the Congress-led Opposition members as they staged a walkout from the House in protest.

This was the second time in a week that the BJD MPs staged a walkout from the Rajya Sabha, having also joined the Opposition INDIA alliance's protest in the House on June 28 over their demand for a discussion on alleged paper leaks and irregularities in examinations like NEET and NET.

Known as a “trusted informal ally” of the ruling BJP-led NDA government for 10 years, the BJD has now changed its position in Parliament and outside after suffering debacles in the recent simultaneous elections in Odisha, which saw the BJP storming to power by clinching the Assembly polls, thereby ending the Naveen Patnaik-led party's five-term reign. In the Lok Sabha polls, the BJP won 20 seats out of 21, while the BJD failed to even open its account, which marked a first for the party since its formation in 1997.

Currently, the BJD has nine MPs in the 245-member Rajya Sabha, where the NDA does not have a majority.

Early last week, when the first session of Parliament after the Lok Sabha polls began, the BJD announced that it would stop giving “issue-based support” to the BJP in the House. BJD supremo and five-time CM Patnaik held a meeting with his party’s Rajya Sabha MPs, asking them to ensure that the party goes all out to “protect the interests of Odisha” and emerges as a “strong and vibrant” Opposition in Parliament.

According to the BJD camp, Patnaik’s message to his MPs was: “No more support to BJP, only opposition”. This was a marked shift from the party’s stand in the last 10 years.

During the first two terms of the Modi government during 2014-24, the BJD had come to its rescue in Parliament and outside on a range of contentious issues and Bills multiple times.

On Wednesday, BJD’s leader in Rajya Sabha Sasmit Patra told The Indian Express: “We walked out during PM’s reply, protesting the continued neglect to Odisha, especially with regard to our demands for special category status (SCS) and revision of coal royalty. The state has been historically neglected by successive governments in Delhi. Despite our demand for SCS in the past 10 years, there has been no reflection of the issue either in President’s address or PM’s reply,”

Justifying the BJD's protest, Patra accused the Modi government of ignoring Odisha’s specific demands like increasing royalty on coal, inclusion of more communities in the Scheduled Tribes' (STs) list and non-inclusion of several languages like “Ho”, “Mundari” and “Bhumij” in the eighth schedule of the Constitution.

“There have been several demands which have been pending before the Centre for the last 10 years and there have been no reflection or reference of our demands in the PM's replies. Therefore, it did not make any sense to sit and listen to the same reply highlighting his government's achievements. So, we protested,” said Patra, adding that the Centre should be “empathetic to the needs of Odisha and its people”.

After their walkout over the NEET issue on June 28, Patra had said, “The BJD MPs strongly protested against the BJP-led government in Parliament and went to the Well of the House twice, voicing the concerns of the students and parents of Odisha who are adversely affected due to NEET irregularities and corruption.”

BJD sources said the party’s new-found aggression against the BJP dispensation is part of its “well-thought-out strategy after the poll setbacks to win back the confidence of the people”.

Participating in the debate on the motion of thanks on the President’s address, the BJD attacked the Modi government over various issues. Referring to President’s address in which she said the people of the country have elected “a stable government with clear majority” for the consecutive third term, BJD member Sulata Deo, in her speech, said, “It is neither a stable nor a majority government”.

Accusing the BJP of having run a “false campaign” during the recent polls, Deo slammed Modi for his “undignified remarks” on Patnaik’s health. “When the BJP government in Odisha was sworn in, Naveen Patnaik attended the ceremony. They (BJP) must have ascertained whether he is fine or not. Then why did he (PM) make false statements?” she asked.

In the course of his poll campaign, while addressing a rally in Baripada in the Mayurbhanj Lok Sabha constituency, Modi had said there was a need for a detailed probe to “uncover the mystery” about the “sudden deterioration” in the health of Patnaik. He had alleged there was a conspiracy behind it involving a power “lobby”.

Hitting back at Modi's another claim then that the keys of Ratna Bhandar (treasure trove) of Puri Jagannath Temple has been sent to Tamil Nadu – in a dig at former Patnaik confidant and BJD strategist V K Pandian who is from Tamil Nadu – Deo said the PM should apologise for his comments as the chairman of Jagannath Temple Managing Committee had said the keys were well within its place. “The BJP had claimed that they will open Ratna Bhandar days after assuming power. Why have they not opened it yet? Is it also a jumla?” she asked.

She also criticised the Centre over the “poor progress” of the railway sector in Odisha despite the state contributing huge revenue to it.

From extending support to the Modi govt on the passage of key legislation as well in the Presidential elections in 2017 and 2022, to throwing its weight behind Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw's Rajya Sabha candidature, the BJD has always backed the BJP over the last 10 years.

However, a senior BJD leader now said that “Being a regional party, we should fight against the Centre to fulfil the regional aspirations to keep the impression of a state-based party intact. Our siding with the Centre on every issue backfired in the polls. Hence, we decided to change our stance.”

After being defeated by the BJP to become the opposition in Odisha for the first time, the BJD has also been gearing up to hit the streets in the state against the Mohan Charan Majhi-led BJP government over various issues like price rise.

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2024-07-03T19:05:55Z dg43tfdfdgfd