Bhubaneswar: A day after hearing senior party leaders’ views on a possible stand in the upcoming vice-presidential elections, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) president and former Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Sunday embarked on a four-day visit to New Delhi.
Sources said Naveen, who is the leader of opposition (LoP) in Odisha Assembly, may undergo a health check-up in the national capital. He is also likely to meet party MPs before the vice-president election.
The BJD supremo met senior party leaders and members of the political affairs committee (PAC) on Saturday evening.
In a post on X, Naveen said BJD has always been at the forefront in protecting the interests of the people of Odisha. He also said that the PAC meeting focused on intensifying outreach to every household to highlight the state government’s incompetence.
In the PAC meeting, the BJD president also heard the views of senior leaders on what stand the BJD should take in the vice-president election under the changed circumstances when the party is in opposition in Odisha.
The BJD has seven Rajya Sabha MPs.
In the vice president election, the BJD has three options – abstain from polls, support NDA candidate CP Radhakrishnan, or support the INDIA bloc’s B Sudershan Reddy.
Though the BJD states that it maintains equal distance from both BJP-led NDA and INDIA bloc, the party chief may make a surprise announcement of the regional outfit’s stand in the vice president elections during his Delhi visit.
Naveen’s visit to the national capital also follows a recent phone call from Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who had inquired about his health and invited him to Delhi.
While wishing him a speedy recovery, Modi had suggested that Patnaik visit Delhi after being discharged from the hospital.
The BJD abstained from the 2012 vice presidential polls, in which Hamid Ansari won. It backed non-NDA candidate Gopalkrishna Gandhi in the 2017 polls, in which Venkaiah Naidu was elected. In 2022, it supported NDA candidate Jagdeep Dhankar.