Waqf Amendment Bill row: BJD reaffirms its ‘secular stance’

The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) reiterated its commitment to secularism, the senior BJD leader Prasanna Acharya stated on Friday.

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Prasanna Acharya clears party's stance

Speaking after a meeting with the party president at Naveen Niwas, Acharya said, “We have deliberated on the Waqf Amendment Bill. We are neither part of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) bloc nor the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDI Alliance) bloc. For us, the State’s interests come first.”

Acharya indicated that the discussions at the meeting included organisational matters. Earlier, a session took place at Sankha Bhavan involving the BJD advisory committee, followed by a gathering of senior leaders at Naveen Niwas in the evening.

Present were BJD figures such as Rajanikant Singh, Shashi Bhushan Behera, Nrusingha Sahu, Prasanna Acharya, and Debi Prasad Mishra.

A major topic on the agenda was the Waqf Amendment Bill, particularly concerning how BJD Members of Parliament (MPs) would approach the impending vote.

“Biju Janata Dal is a secular party. We were also secular in the past few days. At present, we are a secular party and will remain secular in the future,” Prasanna Acharya asserted.

“Our stance will keep continuing as before. Our party (BJD) was formed based on secular principles and ideologies. That stance has neither changed in the past nor will change in the future. All the members of our committee have communicated their opinions to the party supremo and have discussed in this regard,” the senior BJD leader said.

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“A party usually has leaders from several places and belonging to several sections of the society. The president is discussing elaborately with all of them,” Acharya added.