BJD’s Support To NDA Candidate For Rajya Sabha: Chidambaram Calls It A Blunder

Bhubaneswar: Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister P Chidambaram on Thursday said that the BJD has committed a Herculean blunder by supporting the NDA-backed JD-U candidate Harivansh Narayan Singh who was elected as the Deputy Chairperson of Rajya Sabha.

He said it is an irony that the BJD has supported the candidate of the BJP-led NDA government, which has decided to unseat it in Odisha in the ensuing elections. By doing this, the BJD has shot itself in the foot.

“The margin was only 20 votes. If the BJD had acted as a true Opposition party, the result would have been different,” Chidambaram said in a tweet.

Launching a scathing attack on the BJD on this issue, senior Congress leader Srikant Jena said the ruling party supremo Naveen Patnaik has again gone in the lap of the RSS and the BJP.

“There has been a tacit understanding between Naveen and BJP since the last four years which is evident from the instances of BJD’s walkout in the Lok Sabha during the no-confidence motion and its support to the NDA-backed candidate in the election of the Rajya Sabha deputy chairperson,” Jena told the media here.

Asked about the reason which has drawn the BJD nearer to the saffron party, the Congress leader said the BJD supremo is not confident about his party winning the ensuing elections alone.

On the other hand, senior BJP leader Dharmendra Pradhan thanked the non-BJP parties for lending their support to Harivansh Narayan Singh.

Talking about the election for the Rajya Sabha deputy chairperson’s post, he said that the election was to be held unanimously, but the opposition did not make it happen.

To a question on the speculation of a possible alliance between the BJP and the BJD ahead of the ensuing elections, Dharmendra said there is no chance of any tie-up with the ruling party to form a government in the state.

“BJP will contest the Assembly and Lok Sabha elections in Odisha on its own strength. The Modi government will fulfil the aspirations of the people of the state,” he maintained.