Bhubaneswar: Ending all speculations, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Monday announced its decision to abstain from voting in the Vice-Presidential election on Wednesday.
Confirming the BJD’s decision, its Rajya Sabha MP Sasmit Patra told reporters that the move is in line with the regional party’s policy of maintaining equal distance from both the NDA and the INDIA group.
“The BJD has decided to abstain from tomorrow’s vice- presidential election. Our party continues to maintain equal distance from both the NDA and the INDIA alliances. We remain focused on the development and welfare of Odisha and its 4.5 crore people,” Patra said.
The announcement was made a day after BJD president and former Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik began his four-day visit to New Delhi.
The BJD, which is now the main opposition party in Odisha, has seven seats in the Rajya Sabha but has no representation in the Lok Sabha.
Notably, the BJD had 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.
Reacting sharply to the BJD’s decision, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Bhakta Charan Das said the move aims to extend tacit support to the BJP-led NDA candidate, C P Radhakrishnan. “If the BJD abstains, it amounts to supporting the BJP,” Das said.
With this decision, the Naveen Patnaik-led party has proved that BJD and BJP are one. If that is not true, Naveen Patnaik should have proved it now, he said.
The Vice President is elected by an electoral college comprising members of both Houses of Parliament. With 293 MPs in the Lok Sabha and 129 in the Rajya Sabha, the NDA already commands a clear majority, making Radhakrishnan’s victory all but certain.
The election comes after the resignation of Jagdeep Dhankhar as Vice President on July 21, citing health reasons.
