New Delhi: The budget session of parliament saw the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) join the opposition INDIA alliance in staging walkouts, in a departure from the last decade when, though not a formal ally, it had lent support to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in key legislations.
In an interview with The Wire, BJD Rajya Sabha MP Sasmit Patra said that while the party was among those that walked out during the prime minister’s reply to the motion of thanks to the president’s address and during protests against the conduct of the NEET examination, it continues to remain an independent party that is not aligned either with INDIA or the the NDA.
“We are not part of the INDIA alliance, we don’t intend to be a part of the INDIA alliance, we are an independent entity. Just because we choose to be aggressive and assertive on the floor of the House doesn’t mean there is a binary,” said Patra.
Prior to the presentation of the 2024-25 budget, the BJD had reiterated its demand for special category status for Odisha at the all-party meeting where similar demands were also placed for Andhra Pradesh and Bihar, both ruled by the BJP’s key allies in the Union government, the Telugu Desam Party (TDP) and the Janata Dal (United) (JD(U)).
Patra said that the budget gave nothing to Odisha despite the BJP promising in its 2014 election manifesto in Odisha that it would grant special category status to the state.
Calling the budget a “sarkar bachao budget”, Patra said: “Today the government is standing on two legs – one is the JD(U) and the other is the TDP. They desperately need them. The budget was aimed at somehow salvaging this government and facilitating them, nothing more. Therefore there is nothing in the budget for Odisha.”
Since the Odisha assembly elections, which voted out the Naveen Patnaik-led government after over two decades and saw the formation of a BJP government in the state for the first time, the BJD has since announced that it will oppose the BJP.
Also read | Decoding BJP’s Odisha Win: ‘Overconfident’ Naveen Patnaik, Modi’s Aggressive Campaigning
Read edited excerpts of the full interview below:
1. Unlike the previous ten years, we saw the BJD walking out of parliament along with other opposition members. Is the BJD working towards changing its perception as a pro-BJP party and inching towards the INDIA alliance?
The BJD is an independent party that does not align with the NDA or the UPA. We were never an ally of the NDA, neither will we align with the UPA. We are a party of Odisha for the aspirations of the people and will continue to be an individual independent party.
Neither was there any such perception in our mind and neither is there any such perception. We are very clear in our minds that we are an independent party.
2. So when we saw these walkouts where the BJD joined the other INDIA alliance members, was there any strategisation or was it issue-based?
No, there was no strategising and there was no floor management.
There are many issues about which the BJD feels strongly and we walk out. During the prime minister’s address during the vote of thanks to the president, it was the BJD that actually walked out before the INDIA alliance.
This also tells you that just because the BJD walked out around the time the INDIA alliance also walked out, it does not mean that there is any kind of camaraderie or floor management. We are an independent party, we feel strongly about issues and we walk out. And if the other parties also feel similarly … just because we feel similarly does not mean we have to be part of a common political alliance.
3. During the all-party meeting, the BJD raised the issue of special category status for Odisha. But when the budget was presented, the other states that have been asking for special status for a while, i.e. Andhra and Bihar, were favoured in many ways. Would you say that the BJD paid for not aligning with the BJP?
The BJD has always demanded special category status. It is very ironic that the Odisha BJP had promised to make Odisha a special category state in serial number one on page number one of its 2014 election manifesto. Today they have a double-engine government [in the state]. What happened to their 2014 promise that they had codified in their manifesto?
It is not [just] today … for the last two decades we have demanded special category status and over the last two decades there have been several governments that have come and gone. So why must we only look at this ten-year-old government when it has been [our demand] for the last two decades-and-a-half?
4. Opposition parties have accused the Union government of compromising on federalism and of favouring two states at the cost of others, and especially favouring those states that have voted for the BJP. What is your assessment of the budget outlays for Odisha?
I do not begrudge Andhra Pradesh and Bihar what they have got. But what we do say is that today, the maximum amount of coal for this country comes from Odisha. Today, the mines and minerals from the state power the steel, aluminium and energy sectors of the country. We don’t hold a grudge against anyone because we are doing this. All we are saying is that in lieu of that, you give us special category status. [But] you do not.
In the last 100 years, 99 cyclones have ravaged Odisha. You do not provide any support. We have been saying that you have not revised the coal royalty in twelve years despite taking maximum coal from Odisha.
All they said is that ‘we will do something for tourism’. A few years ago, the Konark Temple in Odisha was mentioned as an iconic tourist site in one of the budget speeches. How much money have you given for its development? Zero.
The amount of cess and surcharges that are being taken, whether it is a national highway, education or petroleum, all of it is going to the [Union government]. So on one hand, you are talking about the devolution of taxes, and on the other hand under the guise of cess and surcharges, you are taking all of it to the [Union government], and cess and surcharges as everyone knows are not divisible to the states.
That is why I called the budget a ‘sarkar bachao budget’. Today the government is standing on two legs – one is the JD(U) and the other is the TDP. They desperately need them. The budget was aimed at somehow salvaging this government and facilitating them, nothing more. Therefore there is nothing in the budget for Odisha.
5. In the Rajya Sabha, the opposition has accused chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar of being partisan. There are reports that the opposition is mulling moving a no-confidence motion against Dhankhar. Will the BJD join hands with them on this?
I heard from media reports that there are a number of opposition parties from the INDIA alliance thinking about this. It has not come to our notice nor has it come to our knowledge.
Second, there is an impression that anything that the INDIA alliance is doing, the BJD is aware of. It is not. We are not part of the INDIA alliance, we don’t intend to be a part of it, we are an independent entity.
Just because we choose to be aggressive and assertive on the floor of the House doesn’t mean there is a binary. So there is a problem of perception. It is like if you are not with the NDA, you are with INDIA; if you are walking out with INDIA, then you are INDIA; if you are not with INDIA, then you are with the NDA. Why does parliament have to live in binaries? Why can’t parliament live on different levels?
6. Will the BJD join other opposition parties in demanding a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into the latest revelations by Hindenburg Research against the SEBI chairperson?
We have not taken a position on that yet.
7. The Waqf Amendment Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha but sent to a JPC. After the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, do you see the BJP becoming more accountable in parliament?
We have to realise that the BJP is running a minority government for the first time in ten years. From the BJP’s perspective, it is a difficult tightrope to walk, which they are not used to.
The last man from the BJP who walked this tightrope was Atal Bihari Vajpayee. It enjoyed a majority in 2014 and 2019. Today it is 33 seats less than the majority mark. So this clearly suggests that the BJP will not only be more circumspect, but that it will also be very edgy. And its edginess is already showing.
8. Finally, will the BJD now remain in the role of a strong opposition following Naveen Patnaik’s statement or will issue-based support emerge in the coming sessions because the BJP is short of the majority number in the Rajya Sabha?
The BJD will only grow to become more and more of a strong opposition in parliament, and the role of the BJD that you have seen now is a trailer. The BJD is here to stay as a strong opposition party making the NDA government accountable for its flaws and mistakes.
Of 21 seats from Odisha, 20 are with the BJP in the Lok Sabha. Their MLAs and MPs will be silent because they are part of the ruling alliance. So who will be the voice of Odisha? It has to be the BJD. And our voice will only grow shriller, more powerful and stronger.
