Naveen Patnaik told me to abstain from voting during Waqf Bill amendment: Debashish Samantaray

Rajya Sabha MP and senior BJD leader Debashish Samantaray made an explosive statement on Wednesday and said that he had abstained from voting when the Waqf Bill (then tabled for amendment) was presented in the Upper House.

Also Read: I had voted in support of Waqf Amendment Bill: BJD MP Sulata Deo

“Naveen Babu called me and told me to remain absent from the House. I did not go to vote as per his instruction,” Samantaray expressed in a recent exclusive interview to OTV.

The BJD MP further stated that the party supremo, Naveen Patnaik, is being kept under strict isolation and is not being allowed to meet party leaders. Samantaray alleged that despite repeated attempts, even after returning from New Delhi, he was not granted access to the former Chief Minister.

The Rajya Sabha MP further claimed that senior leader Bhupinder Singh too was barred from meeting Patnaik, blaming certain individuals close to VK Pandian, including private secretary Aditya Mahapatra, for controlling all access.

Samantaray also held Pandian responsible for BJD’s electoral defeat and said, “Pandian could never become a star in Odisha” and accused him of replacing Naveen Patnaik’s and Biju Patnaik’s photographs with his own during the 2024 General Election campaign. He alleged that after the loss, Pandian is now taking ‘revenge on Odias’ for rejecting his leadership.

Countering Samantaray’s allegations, BJD MLA Pramila Mallik called him ‘selfish’.

“Ask him (Debashish Samantaray) that when he was enjoying power, and we (BJD) had the government, the party had ideology. Now, what happened to the ideology for Debashish Babu when the party lost power?” Pramila Mallik questioned.

The controversy resurfaces just after the Nuapada by-poll defeat, where infighting within BJD has intensified over Pandian’s influence and the likely entry of his wife, Sujata R Karthikeyan.