From the time when some regional political outfits in the country have come to realise that the canopy of National Democratic Alliance ( NDA) is no more a safe shelter as two such outfits have come to feel the pain of political humiliation.

Notable among them are the Biju Janata Dal in Odisha under Naveen Patnaik, that had been running with a hare and hunting with a hound to remain in politics of power for last 24 plus years, has, of late, dawned upon the realisation that it was chasing a chimera only.

Few days back, particularly, after the electoral debacle in 2024 polls Naveen Patnaik could discard the fantasy of being a friend of Modi-led NDA and openly came in support of the Zen Z protests at Jantar Mantar asking its Rajya Sabha members to be a part of the protesting youths. Yet, that was short of BJD’s will to join the India Bloc directly but as a moral supporter only.

Subsequently, he was more forthright, demanding the ouster of Gyanesh Kumar Gupta the Chief Election Commissioner , charging him of completely sabotaging the democratic rights of people by dis-enfranchising their right to vote.

Willing To Wound Afraid To Strike

But, looking in detail it shows that the BJD in Odisha is yet to be as upfront as expected as a disillusioned political partner of the NDA. There seems to be some hiccups within the BJD regarding a firm stand against the Modi dispensation.

As far as Naveen Patnaik is concerned, reducing down to 51 MLAs in the Assembly in 2024 polls and a big zero at the Lok Sabha (with the BJP sweeping the Lok Sabha by winning 20 out of 21 seats) there is nothing more to lose for him and the party supremo having reached 80 years it is time he becomes more Naveen and his advisers failed to learn a lesson from the strategic error committed by Mamata Banerjee in the last election.

But, still reiterating that ‘equidistant’ posturing from the Congress and now India Bloc, hardly there is any political wisdom.

Even within the state some BJD leaders, purportedly some front liners like Pranab Prakash alias Boby Das, in a belated move gave a call to create a Zen Z support base in Odisha as a consolidating gesture for the protesting youths against allegedly invalidating the voting rights of large number of people by the CEC.

BJD loses political space

Where was the BJD all those months since Jantar Mantar protests started.

The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has officially clarified that it is not part of the INDIA bloc, and while it previously joined specific parliamentary protest marches alongside the alliance, the party maintains its stance of political equidistant from both the NDA and the INDIA bloc

Additionally, the INDIA bloc`s upcoming mega rally against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is scheduled to take place at Ramlila Maidan. However, the BJD has not made any stance clear as to whether it will join the Nov 1 rally or not.

Issue-Based Solidarity

BJD Rajya Sabha MPs participated in a preliminary opposition march in New Delhi earlier in October. BJD leadership clarified that they only did so because they shared the specific grievance regarding the alleged deletion of voters

Following political criticism from the BJP, BJD leaders issued long clarifications stating that their participation was strictly an issue-specific move to safeguard voter rights in Odisha and did not mean they were joining the INDIA bloc alliance. They have since backtracked from supporting further block-wide calls, such as the alliance`s state bandhs.

“After all that humiliation in 2024 and the ongoing NDA’s posturing of sidelining as what the BJD is doing by the occasional joining the chorus of India Bloc, the BJD must not pretend to be an independent outfit, which sounds shrill and vacuous” said Ritik Pramanik, an independent political analyst.

“And a few BJD foot soldiers like few Rajya Sabha MPs and few more with no political significance do just what they are asked to parrot after being asked by someone other than Naveen Patnaik, is puzzling . Who is he or she? many other founding members of the BJD simply look in askance”  was Pramanik’s spontaneous jibe.           

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