BJD leader Prasanna Acharya (left).
BHUBANESWAR: Speculation is rife in political circles here after a section of the national media tipped senior BJD leader as the next deputy chairman of the Rajya Sabha. While union minister for petroleum and natural gas Dharmendra Pradhan dismissed the speculation as a rumour, Acharya said he was not
aware of any such development.
The union minister said that the BJP will field a candidate and seek the cooperation from all political parties in this regard. The speculation on Acharya in the race of for the post after current deputy chairman PJ Kurien's term ends on June 30 has raised questions on the policy of equi-distance from Congress
and BJP followed by the BJD. Sources said that after debacle of BJP in Karnataka, Congress will try to rope in BJD to its side by offering the post of deputy chairman of Rajya Sabha. However, chief minister Naveen Patnaik did not attend the swearing in ceremony of HD Kumaraswamy as the chief minister of Karnataka at Bangalore last month.
Acharya, however, said the party and party president take a call on these matters. “The party and the party president take a call on these matters. But I am not aware of any such development,” he said. Asserting that BJD stood by its stated position of maintaining equi-distance from both the BJP and the Congress,
Acharya said any decision about a change in the policy can only be made by the party chief.
Election for the successor of deputy chairman PJ Kurien will be held in the forthcoming monsoon session of parliament. Apart from Acharya, the name of Trinamool Congress MP Sukhendu Roy is also doing the
rounds for the post.
