New Delhi: Signalling rising unease and unrest within the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) over the way in which the celebration is run by Naveen Patnaik and his shut aide V.Okay. Pandian, Rajya Sabha MP Debashish Samantaray Monday resigned as convenor of BJD’s senior citizen cell and accused the celebration of “demeaning and humiliating” him.

In a stern letter to BJD president Naveen Patnaik, he questioned the celebration’s “new line of thought, ideology and motion” that has allegedly deviated from the “Biju legacy” and hoped Patnaik will “thwart any try being made to weaken the celebration, virtually as if, there’s a design to it”.

An exceptional idea within the BJD’s or every other celebration’s construction, the submit of “within the rank” was launched after Patnaik was elected BJD president in April this 12 months and began the method of appointing the brand new workplace bearers.

The transfer is being seen as an try to humiliate senior leaders, who’ve been questioning the way in which the celebration has been functioning following the drubbing in final 12 months’s Lok Sabha and meeting elections.

It has fuelled additional discontent within the BJD management and comes days after the celebration’s defeat within the Nuapada bypoll. BJP’s Jay Dholakia, a primary timer, received the seat by over 1.23 lakh votes defeating Congress’ Ghasi Ram Majhi, who received 83,748 votes. BJD’s Snehangini Chhuria got here a distant third.

ThePrint has reached out to BJD spokesperson Lenin Mohanty for a remark following Samantaray’s prices within the letter to Patnaik. This report shall be up to date if and when he responds.

‘Within the rank’ controversy  

Within the celebration reorganisation in Could, six of the ten leaders have been appointed “within the rank” of senior vp, two of them have been appointed “within the rank” of vp and two “within the rank” of senior basic secretary. A majority of the ten leaders have been vocal in questioning Patnaik over the state of affairs within the celebration.

Two of the six leaders—six-term MLA and former Rajya Sabha MP A.U. Singh Deo and Rairakhol MLA and former RS MP Prasanna Acharya—who’ve been positioned “within the rank” of senior vice-presidents, have been earlier senior vice presidents within the celebration.

Calling the  designation “demeaning and humiliating”, Samantaray wrote in his letter, “…I doubt that there’s anywhere for loyalists of legendary Biju babu (former Odisha CM and Naveen Patnaik’s father) or your loyalists, who’ve stood like rock behind your lengthy and illustrious political profession… I really feel slightly disillusioned regardless of my unflinching loyalty for you.”

A senior BJD chief, who has been sidelined, instructed ThePrint, “In-the rank is a really bureaucratic idea. It has by no means been there in a celebration construction. This has been launched in BJD for the primary time.”

The chief mentioned that the choice to introduce the submit of “within the rank” comes seven months after Samataray, as soon as thought-about near Patnaik, and several other different senior BJD leaders who’ve been demoted, had questioned the celebration’s u-turn on the Wakf (Modification) Invoice, 2024.

Whereas Patnaik had publicly introduced that BJD was against the Wakf (Modification) legislation because it creates a way of insecurity among the many minority neighborhood, when it got here up for voting in Rajya Sabha, celebration MP Sasmit Patra took to social media urging BJD MPs to “train their conscience” throughout voting.

Whereas Samantaray abstained from voting, one other BJD MP Muzibulla Khan voted towards the invoice. The remaining 5—Sasmit Patra, Sulata Deo, Subhashish Khuntia, Manas Ranjan Mangaraj and Niranjan Bishi—voted in favour of the invoice.

The BJD doesn’t have a single MP in Lok Sabha however has seven MPs in Rajya Sabha. Because the invoice’s passage in April, a number of senior BJD leaders have met Patnaik a number of instances at his residence, expressing issues over the celebration’s last-moment change in stance.

Samantaray in his letter mentioned that “each BJD cadre and chief, whether or not they converse out or not, know the trigger behind our defeat in 2024….”

Alleging that makes an attempt have been being made to weaken the BJD “virtually as if, there’s a design to it” the Rajya Sabha MP requested Patnaik to pay private consideration to tide over the current state of affairs within the celebration.

“Unusually, the reason being on the lips of each employee and supporter of the celebration. In addition to our determined submissions, the celebration has struggled to just accept the fact. Wins and losses are pure to elections. Nonetheless, we misplaced regardless of a well-liked chief minister,” the Rajya Sabha MP wrote.

Whereas BJD received 51 of the 147 meeting seats, BJP received 78 and fashioned the federal government underneath Mohan Charan Majhi. Submit elections, three Unbiased MLAs joined BJP, taking its tally to 81. Within the Lok Sabha, BJD’s humiliation was extra stark. Of the 21 Lok Sabha seats in Odisha, it couldn’t win even one. The BJP received 20 seats whereas the Congress bagged one.

Samantaray instructed ThePrint that it was very clear that the choice to put him and 5 different leaders “within the rank” of senior vice-president was executed on the behest of Pandian.

“He (Pandian) nonetheless holds sway within the celebration. All that is taking place at his (Pandian’s) behest, even supposing our appointment letter has been signed by Naveen babu,” Samantaray mentioned.

Pandian, a 2000-batch IAS officer and a former minister within the BJD authorities had  served as personal secretary to Patnaik for over twenty years. He took voluntary retirement to hitch BJD in November 2023 however introduced his withdrawal from politics after the celebration misplaced the 2024 elections. However senior leaders together with Samantaray mentioned that he has continued to intrude in celebration issues.

Pandian was not obtainable for remark regardless of repeated makes an attempt to achieve him over his cell phone.

The second chief quoted earlier mentioned that since BJD’s drubbing within the elections final 12 months, there was no introspection inside the celebration over the explanations for the defeat and what must be executed to rejuvenate the celebration once more. “The BJD cadre has change into fully demotivated…. Corrective measures have to be taken urgently to revive BJD’s fortune,” the chief, who didn’t need to be named, mentioned.

(Edited by Viny Mishra)

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