Naveen Patnaik Bats For V K Pandian Again, Rubbishes ‘BJD May Split’ Talk

Bhubaneswar: Biju Janata Dal (BJD) president Naveen Patnaik on Monday rubbished a news report, which claimed that he had asked Union Home Minister Amit Shah “not to entertain” his party leader and key aide V K Pandian.

“This is completely false, motivated, defamatory and malicious. As I have stated earlier Mr Pandian has served the state and party with utmost dedication, efficiency and integrity and he is known and respected for the same,” Naveen posted on X along with the news article.

According to the report, the BJD supremo assured Shah of his party’s support in the Rajya Sabha, where the Narendra Modi-led NDA lacks majority, during a telephonic conversation last week. He, however, warned him about Pandian, who the report claimed had been attempting to strike a deal with the BJP brass to weaken the BJD in Odisha.

While BJD has nine MPs in Rajya Sabha, the BJP’s strength in the Upper House has dropped to 86 with four nominated members – Rakesh Sinha, Ram Shakal, Sonal Mansingh and Mahesh Jethmalani – completing their tenure on July 13. The NDA has 101 members, falling short of the current 113 majority mark in the House of Elders, whose maximum strength can be 245.

Also Read: Can BJD Use Rajya Sabha Math To Correct ‘Past Wrongs’?

The report also mentioned about the former bureaucrat’s frequent trips to Delhi and added that “BJP leadership appears to have decided to side with Patnaik and not entertain Pandian for now”.

Though Pandian is yet to react to the allegations, Naveen promptly intervened as was the case earlier when the former was criticised for the regional party’s shocking defeat in the Odisha. The BJD chief had then said that the criticism was “unfortunate” as he did an “excellent job”. “There has been some criticism of Pandian. This is unfortunate. He joined the party and has not held any post. He did not contest the elections from any constituency,” Naveen was quoted as saying.

BJP vice president Biranchi Narayan Tripathy also dismissed the report, saying the BJP doesn’t need any help from the BJD as it has majority in the state and at the Centre. His party senior and Sambalpur MLA Jayanarayan Mishra too echoed similar views. “There is no basis. When we were in Opposition media used to say the same thing. Now we are in the government, again media is speculating the same. In reality, there is nothing between the two parties,” Mishra told reporters.

In June, Pandian announced his withdrawal from active politics after the BJD’s poor show in the Lok Sabha and assembly polls. The regional party drew a blank in the Lok Sabha polls while its strength in the Assembly was reduced to 51 from 112 in 2019.