Vice-President Elections: BJD’s move to abstain from voting a political suicide, says former MP Tathagata Satpathy

Former Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MP Tathagata Satpathy criticised his erstwhile party for deciding not to participate in the upcoming vice-presidential election. Calling the move a ‘political suicide,’ Satpathy said the party had destroyed whatever little political relevance it had left.

In a post on late-night post on the social media platform X, Satpathy wrote: “Orissa's Biju Janata Dal (BJD), by deciding not to vote in tomorrow's Vice Prez election, seems to have hara kiri-ed its total political existence ... whatever little remained.”

He also shared a modified version of the BJD logo in black. Explaining his remarks, Satpathy compared the party’s action to hara-kiri, the Japanese term referring to self-destruction or sacrifice for honour.

BJD Abstains From Election

The criticism came after the BJD’s political affairs committee, in a meeting on Monday, resolved not to take part in the election scheduled for Tuesday.

Party MP Sasmit Patra announced that BJD would abstain from voting, reiterating that it remains equidistant from both the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the Opposition’s INDI bloc.

The party currently has seven members in the Rajya Sabha but has opted neither to field a candidate nor to extend support to any side. The NDA has nominated C P Radhakrishnan, while the Opposition has fielded B Sudershan Reddy.

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Satpathy’s Wider Criticism Of Leadership

Satpathy has in recent days also criticised BJD chief Naveen Patnaik for allegedly ignoring proposals related to youth employment in Keonjhar.

His latest remarks add to his ongoing attacks on the leadership, which he says has failed to prioritise key issues while making what he termed as ‘self-destructive’ political choices.