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Naveen gets 9th term as BJD chief, asks party to aggressively expose BJP’s ‘false narrative’

Commencing his speech with the 'Jai Jagannath' chant, Patnaik said that the ideology of his father, Biju Patnaik, continued to remain the guiding principle of the BJD.

Naveen Patnaik addressing party leaders and workers after being named as the BJD president. (Screengrab from video shared by BJD)

Despite some rumblings within the BJD over various issues, such as its recent flip-flop on the Waqf Amendment Act, former Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik has continued to be the undisputed leader of the party.

On Saturday, Patnaik, 78, who has been heading the party since its formation in 1997, became the party chief for the ninth consecutive term after being re-elected unopposed to the post at a BJD state council meeting.

However, all eyes were on his message to party leaders at BJD’s first organisational poll in the wake of its drubbing in the 2024 Assembly and LS polls.

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“Nobody should underestimate the organisational strength of the BJD. The spirit of our workers is very high. We will continue to serve the people irrespective of whether we are in power or not,” said Patnaik.

On the BJD’s Assembly poll debacle, Patnaik said his party got more popular votes even as it lost. BJD secured 51 of 147 seats compared to BJP’s 78.

On his party’s show in the polls, Patnaik said: “We could not effectively counter the false narrative (of BJP)… We should be aggressive in exposing this false narrative, especially in social media.”

Patnaik also seemed to have deflected the heat on the Waqf row. The party had left voting on the contentious Bill in the Rajya Sabha to the party MPs at the last minute after months of campaigning against it.

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Senior BJD leader and RS MP Debashish Samantaray, who had earlier criticised the party’s Waqf stand, said: “Naveen babu is the only leader in the BJD and there is no second leader in the party”.

This was seen as a reference to bureaucrat-turned-politician V K Pandian, who has been accused by a section of BJD leaders of trying to control the party. Samantaray went on to even allege that Pandian had advised Patnaik on the last-minute shift on Waqf voting issue.

Some of the party’s Rajya Sabha members, including its floor leader Sasmit Patra who had voted in favour of the Waqf stand, also skipped the meeting.

In his speech, Patnaik vowed to fight for “Odisha’s rights”.

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“Our focus is development of Odisha and its people. BJD is always committed to Odisha’s interest and its Swabhiman (self-esteem). Our fight will continue for Odisha’s rights,” he said. According to BJD insiders, Patnaik’s words can be seen as a counter to BJP’s Odia Asmita (Odia pride) plank, which it used during 2024 polls over growing influence of Pandian,who is from Tamil Nadu.

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