Bhubaneswar: Tension continued to simmer in the BJD on Monday over its ‘conscience voting’ stance on Waqf Amendment Bill.
Taking to his X handle, BJP MP Manas Mangaraj on Monday called out his Rajya Sabha colleague Debasish Samantaray for attacking former bureaucrat-turned-politician V K Pandian over the decision of the party not to issue a whip and allow members to vote on their conscience in the Upper House on the controversial Bill.
“It’s very unfortunate to see that my Rajya Sabha colleague Shri Debasish Samantaray has attacked Shri VK Pandian over Waqf Bill decision despite the fact that the latter has already retired from politics 10 months ago and is not participating in any meeting or political activity,” Mangaraj wrote.
He asserted that all decisions in BJD are taken by party president Naveen Patnaik. “If we have any grievances or concerns, it’s always appropriate to raise these on party forums. Many senior leaders in the last few days, did the same. Shri Samantaray instead of following this but going to the media and talking against someone, who is no longer in the party politics, shows an ulterior motive misguided by some vested interests,” he added.
Interestingly, BJD MP Munna Khan-led delegation of Muslim representatives had also raised ‘Pandian Go Back’ & ‘Pandian Hatao, BJD Bachao’ slogans while at Naveen Niwas to meet the party chief, seeking justice over the matter, earlier in the day.
Also Read: Naveen Patnaik Assures Action As Muslim Representatives Seek Justice On Waqf Vote
What did Debasish Samantaray say?
In an interview to a national daily, Samantaray, who abstained from voting in the Upper House, had blamed Naveen’s ‘only advisor’ for the decision, while refraining from taking any names. “I do not want to take any names. Whoever has taken the decision or advised the party president on the issue has made a mistake. There must be some conspiracy at play… as stated by many of our leaders,” he said while supporting the possible ‘secret deal with BJP’ theory doing the rounds.
He further stated that the BJD’s dual stand on the Bill had put a question mark on its secular credentials.
The controversy
On April 3, the Upper House debated the Bill for nearly 14 hours and then cleared it with 128 votes in favour and 95 against. Some BJD MPs cross-voted in favour of NDA, bettering its tally than earlier expected.
The BJD in its Parliamentary Party meeting had resolved to oppose the Bill, arguing that the Muslim community, the primary stakeholder, was not consulted prior to the introduction of the (Waqf) legislation. However, hours before the voting, BJD MP Sasmit Patra, who is the Rajya Sabha floor leader, put out a post on X, stating that party MPs could vote “as per their conscience” and no whip has been issued to them.
This reportedly caught the other six MPs of the party unawares.
Khan, who vocally opposed the Bill during the debate in the Upper House, voted against the legislation. Sasmit supported the Bill while Samantaray abstained from voting, expressing displeasure over the last-minute change in the party’s stand.
The positions of Manas Mangaraj, Sulata Deo, Niranjan Bisi and Subhasish Khuntia remain undisclosed
The following day, BJD leaders met Naveen Patnaik over the matter. A day later, senior party leaders Pratap Jena and Prafulla Samal wrote to the party supremo, alleging a “conspiracy”, and called for a detailed probe.
On Sunday, BJD deputy leader in the Assembly and former MP Prasanna Acharya also admitted that there is a discussion within the party about the role of an ‘external force’ in the decision not to oppose the Waqf Bill.
Munna Khan slams Sasmit Patra
After returning to Bhubaneswar this afternoon, Khan criticised fellow MP Sasmit Patra for publicly supporting the Bill. “If anyone wants to join the BJP, they are free to go. No one is stopping them. But you cannot speak the language of another party while being in the BJD. This double-faced politics has no place in BJD. Such individual decisions not only go against party discipline but also confuse the public and hurt the sentiments of minority communities,” he said.
He also revealed that his calls to Sasmit to discuss the matter went unanswered.
Also Read: Munna Khan Slams Sasmit Patra, Seeks Answer From Naveen Patnaik On BJD’s Waqf Shift