Congress Attacks Naveen Patnaik's Party For Support To BJP In Parliament

Hitting out at the ruling BJD in Odisha over its support to the NDA government in Parliament, the opposition Congress on Tuesday said its ties with the BJP are now exposed before the people.

The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) extended its support to the bill replacing the Delhi services ordinance in a boost to the treasury benches, especially in Rajya Sabha, and also backed the BJP-led NDA government against the no-confidence motion brought by opposition parties in Parliament.

Speaking to PTI, Koraput Congress MP Saptagiri Ulaka claimed the BJD is supporting the BJP out of fear.

"The cause of fear is well known to them. The Congress will hit the street and expose the link between the BJD and BJP. BJD is maintaining a double standard," he said.

Congress campaign committee chairperson in Odisha Bijay Patnaik claimed the BJD has "surrendered" before the BJP.

"Now, the BJD stands exposed. It's not with the INDIA alliance and has surrendered before the BJP," he said.

Patnaik also said that BJD considers women of the state as its vote bank. "It claims that it has the highest respect for women. Then what about the women of Manipur?" The BJD is the second party after the YSR Congress among those not formally aligned with either the ruling BJP or the opposition to announce support to the Centre on the Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi (Amendment) Bill, 2023, dealing a blow to the opposition's efforts to cobble together a majority in the Rajya Sabha where the treasury benches lack a majority on their own.

The BJD has nine MPs in Rajya Sabha. The YSR Congress also has nine MPs in the Upper House and the total support of their 18 MPs make the passage of the bill all but certain in the House.

Both parties have often supported the government in Parliament despite not being formally part of the ruling alliance.

The ruling NDA has over 100 MPs in the Rajya Sabha and the support of nominated members and Independents, who have been voting for the government, as well as these two non-aligned parties will give it a majority in the 238-member Upper House.

Around 109 MPs comprising those from the 26-member opposition bloc INDIA besides the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and some Independents such as Kapil Sibal are expected to vote against the bill, a senior leader said.

The full strength of the House is 243 but there are some vacancies.

Of the 26 parties from the opposition grouping, at least 18 have a presence in the Rajya Sabha and have 101 MPs collectively. Besides this bloc, the BRS (seven MPs) is also likely to vote against the bill.

With the BJP having 305 members on its own in the Lok Sabha, the government faces no threat from the opposition on either the bill, or the no-confidence motion, which was apparently aimed to force Prime Minister Narendra Modi to speak on the Manipur violence in Parliament.

The BJD has 12 members in the Lower House.

Other than the issues in Parliament, BJD also helped Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw to get elected to Rajya Sabha from Odisha in 2019.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)