BHUBANESWAR : The BJD will take a stand on the no-confidence motion against the BJP-led NDA Government during discussion on the move in the Lok Sabha on Friday. The issue was discussed at a meeting of the BJD Parliamentary Party presided by its leader Bhartruhari Mahtab at New Delhi on Thursday. BJD MP Kalikesh Singhdeo told this paper that the party will take a call on the issue in the House itself. “Though it is highly unlikely that the party will support the BJP-led NDA Government in the no-confidence motion in any manner, the way in which the Government will be opposed will be spelt out in the House,” he said.
Sources, however, maintained that the party will either walk out after the discussion or abstain from voting. Meanwhile, BJD has issued whip to all party MPs to be present in the House during the debate on the motion. Party spokesperson and Rajya Sabha member Prasanna Acharya said at least two MPs will participate in the discussion. The party, which has 19 members in the Lok Sabha, has been allotted 15 minutes for discussion on the motion.
“Whatever decision the party takes on this issue will be carried out during the debate in the House on Friday,” he said. All BJD MPs, including Rama Chandra Hansda, were present at the meeting. Political observers are, however, not surprised about the decision of the BJD which will be spelt out only at the last minute. A senior BJD leader told this paper that the party has always taken decision on such matters in line with its policy of maintaining equi-distance from the BJP and Congress.
The BJD had backed the NDA Government in the election of President Ram Nath Kovind while opposing the BJP candidate in the election for the Vice-President. The Congress, however, strongly criticised the BJD’s stand on the no-confidence motion. “There is a difference in what BJD says and does,” Leader of Opposition in the Assembly and senior Congress leader Narasingh Mishra said. Other than Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, nobody knows what the party is doing, Mishra said and added that BJD criticises the Centre in the State, but when it is in crisis, the regional party directly or indirectly extends a helping hand.
