Bhubaneswar: The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) announced on Monday that it will abstain from voting in the Vice President election scheduled for Tuesday. Party leaders stated that the decision reflects BJD’s stance of remaining equidistant from both the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), with a primary focus on the development and welfare of Odisha’s 4.5 crore residents.
“Biju Janata Dal has decided to abstain from the vice presidential elections tomorrow. Our priority is the development and welfare of Odisha and its people,” said BJD Rajya Sabha leader Sasmit Patra.
The decision comes after deliberations by the party’s political affairs committee, which met last week and recommended that party president Naveen Patnaik avoid aligning with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), noting that doing so could weaken BJD’s position against the ruling party in Odisha. The committee ultimately left the final call to Patnaik, who arrived in Delhi on Sunday.
Historically, BJD has maintained a selective approach in Vice Presidential elections. It abstained in 2012, supported non-NDA candidate Gopalkrishna Gandhi in 2017, and backed NDA candidate Jagdeep Dhankhar in 2022. This time, the party chose abstention following the BJP’s rise to power in Odisha in 2024, making alignment with the NDA politically challenging. Additionally, the party decided against supporting the Opposition candidate B Sudershan Reddy, citing its longstanding opposition to Congress.
A senior BJD functionary added that the party’s focus remains on Odisha’s governance, development projects, and welfare programs rather than national alliances.
The announcement underscores BJD’s continued strategy of political neutrality at the national level, prioritizing state interests while navigating complex alliance dynamics.
