New Delhi/Bhubaneswar: After receiving severe criticism over the support to Delhi Ordinance Bill, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) today clarified that the regional party backed the bill in constitutional point of view even though the BJP is the prime opponent of the BJD in Odisha.
Taking part in the discussion in Lok Sabha, BJD parliamentary party chief and Puri MP Pinaki Mishra said “We have not supported BJP which is our main opponent in Odisha. We are fighting against BJP and Congress and will continue to do this.”
The BJP-led NDA government at the center has brought the bill in the parliament to take power to the center a big step against the AAP government in Delhi. This bill is opposed by almost all the opposition parties in the country, including the Congress. Only the YSR Congress, TDP and BJD, who are maintaining distance from the BJP, are supporting it.
The BJD, after announcing the support to the Bill, drew ire from the Opposition parties in the Centre including Congress and APP.
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram, Aam Aadmi Party MP Raghav Chadha and others have raised questions over the BJD’s move.
They said that there must be some compulsion that may force the regional front to surrender before the BJP.
In response, Pinaki Mishra said in Lok Sabha that his party’s support to the bill is based on the constitutional point of view. At a time when question is being raised whether Parliament has the power to enact law, BJD comes forward to extend support, Mishra said. However, such kind of Bill cannot be moved in the House in the matter of Odisha, Rajasthan, West Bengal, he said.
Mishra further said everyone knows that BJD is fighting hard against BJP in Odisha. When the Congress has lost its deposits and the votes of Congress are limited to 10 percent, then BJD is the prime opponent of BJP, he maintained.
Referring to Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and MP Jual Oram who were present in the House, Pinaki said, “Everyone knows how BJD is fighting against the BJP in the grassroots level in Odisha. So, there is no question of supporting BJP. We have always maintained equidistance from BJP and Congress. BJD only supports a constitutional issue.”
