Giving Opposition campaign a boost, Naveen Patnaik’s BJD joins INDIA bloc protest march

The campaign by INDIA bloc parties against the Election Commission received a boost on Tuesday, 6 Ocotber, after Naveen Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal (BJD) joined the Opposition’s protest march in Delhi, even as the party reiterated that it was neither part of the INDIA bloc nor the NDA.

BJD MPs Manas Mangaraj and Sulata Deo joined INDIA bloc MPs in the march from Parliament towards the Election Commission.

The march, led by Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra, was stopped by the police on Parliament Street, following which Opposition MPs staged a dharna demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Several MPs, including Rahul and Priyanka, were subsequently detained and taken away in buses before being released.

The BJD’s participation is significant given its long-standing proximity to the BJP at the Centre. The two parties were allies from 1998 to 2009, and the BJD had often supported the Narendra Modi government on key issues despite maintaining its separate political identity.

However, relations between the two parties have deteriorated sharply since the 2024 Odisha Assembly elections, when the BJP ended the BJD’s 24-year rule in the state and formed the government for the first time.

Deo underlined the BJD’s independent position while explaining the party’s decision to participate in Tuesday’s protest.

“BJD is joining the protest march, but our leader Naveen Patnaik has already made it clear that we are neither with the INDIA alliance nor the NDA. We are a responsible regional political party,” she said.

The BJD has also stepped up its criticism of Gyanesh Kumar over the Election Commission’s handling of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

BJD spokesperson Lenin Mohanty said Kumar had “no option but to resign and take moral responsibility”, alleging that the CEC had incorrectly claimed that changes to Form 6 during the SIR had been approved by the Supreme Court.

"The BJD participated in the opposition parties’ protest march over the alleged arbitrary actions of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar in connection with the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and the deletion of the names of more than 13 crore voters across the country. In Odisha too, more than 27.50 lakh voters have been disenfranchised in the name of SIR, which raises serious concerns," he wrote on X.

The Supreme Court has sought responses from the Election Commission and the Centre after making it clear that it had not approved the modifications to Form 6. The BJD subsequently argued that Kumar had “no moral right to continue” as CEC.

BJD leader Lekhashree Samantsinghar also questioned the credibility of the Election Commission, claiming that voters across the country, including in Odisha, had “lost trust” in the poll panel.

She further alleged that similar manipulation may have taken place during the 2024 Odisha Assembly elections, including through EVMs, to benefit a particular party. The allegations have not been established.

The Congress welcomed the BJD’s participation and took a swipe at the BJP, saying the countdown to the exit of the “Bharatiya Jhoot Party” had already begun.

The BJD’s participation comes at a time when two other significant Opposition parties — the DMK and the Aam Aadmi Party — have stayed away from the march. Both parties have long maintained their distance from the INDIA bloc, despite being part of the broader Opposition space.

As the principal Opposition party, the Congress led Tuesday’s mobilisation, with Leaders of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi among those who marched towards the ECI. The protest was stopped by police on Parliament Street, where Opposition MPs sat on a dharna demanding Kumar’s resignation.

The participation of the BJD, despite its insistence that it remains outside both national alliances, gives the Opposition’s campaign against the Election Commission a wider political acceptance. It also underscores that criticism of the Election Commission is no longer confined to parties within the INDIA bloc.