BJD may support NDA candidate for RS Deputy Chairperson post

BHUBANESWAR: Biju Janata Dal (BJD) is set to support NDA candidate Harivansh Narayan Singh for the post of Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairperson, boosting the chances of the NDA candidate.

While Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is yet to make his party’s stand public, a BJD insider said Patnaik had committed his MPs’ votes to the JDU lawmaker when Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar called him on Tuesday. Patnaik, whose party has nine members in the upper house, will announce his decision on Wednesday, the last day for nominations. Elections for the post of deputy chairperson is scheduled for August 9.

Patnaik’s office confirmed BJP President Amit Shah, Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar have also spoken to Patnaik on the matter. The Odisha CM is in Mumbai for a two-day investment meet.The BJD spokesperson said Patnaik would announce his party's stand when he returned to Bhubaneswar.


The NDA’s choice is first time JDU MP and former newspaper editor Harivansh Narayan Singh. Bihar CM has reportedly also spoken to his Telengana counterpart K Chandrasekhar Rao, who met the PM on Saturday. The TRS and BJD’s support could be crucial to NDA’s candidate.

Assembly election in Odisha will be held simultaneously with the next general elections. Patnaik’s BJD, in its fourth term has spent the last few years walking a tightrope - purportedly putting state’s interest first - to prove its "equidistance" from both the BJP and the Congress.

During the recent No-Confidence motion, the BJD after beginning to partcipate, chose to suddenly walk out of Parliament. It supported the candidature of President Ram Nath Kovind- “rising above political considerations” and UPA’s candidate for Vice President, Gopalkrishna Gandhi, because Gandhi was an old friend of Patnaik’s.