The back-to-back resignations of two Biju Janata Dal MPs from the Rajya Sabha as well as the party have dealt a further blow to the BJD in the wake of its defeat in the recent Lok Sabha and Assembly elections in Odisha. After drawing a blank in the Lok Sabha polls, the BJD's strength in Parliament had got confined to the Rajya Sabha, where it had nine MPs. However, the party's Upper House tally has now slided to seven after two of its MPs – Mamata Mohanta and Sujeet Kumar – switched to the BJP in quick succession in a month. The development has highlighted the shrinking space of the Naveen Patnaik-led regional party in national politics. Notwithstanding the claims made by Mohanta and Kumar, their crossover has been seen in the BJD circles as “part of a larger game plan to weaken the party”, especially after it changed its stand towards the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre. BJD insiders fear some more defections in the coming days. The BJD had got the tag of a “trusted ally” of the Modi government outside the NDA fold after the 2014 polls. While ruling in Odisha, the party kept on extending its support to the Modi government on almost every issue, including the passage of crucial Bills in the Rajya Sabha where the ruling camp lacked the majority number. However, after suffering defeat at the hands of the BJP in the 2024 polls, when it lost power in the state after five consecutive terms, the BJD decided to play the role of a “strong and vibrant Opposition”, announcing an end to its issue-based support to the BJP dispensation. Patnaik also became the head of the BJD Parliamentary Party to ensure his active involvement in working out the party’s strategies in Parliament. Mohanta got re-elected as an MP in last month's Rajya Sabha bypolls as a BJP candidate. Kumar joined the BJP moments after leaving the BJD last Friday, even as the latter expelled him for “anti-party activities”. Kumar attributed his move to “corruption” in the BJD besides lack of development of the Kalahandi region, from where he hails. “Pace of development could not be achieved in Kalahandi because of rampant corruption during the BJD regime. Many BJD leaders were involved in corruption. I tried to bring these issues before the BJD leadership but failed to do so, which forced me to take this decision,” he alleged. As Kumar's term in the Rajya Sabha was scheduled to end in April 2026, he is expected to get a renomination for the same on the BJP ticket. Given the BJP’s absolute majority in the Odisha Assembly, Kumar is likely to get elected unopposed like Mohanta. Kumar, 48, got his Bachelor in Engineering (BE) degree from Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology and a Bachelor in Law (LLB) degree from Sambalpur University. He also has an MBA from Oxford University and a Master's in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University. He had been associated with several international agencies like World Economic Forum and United Nations Development Programme before returning to India in 2011. He is also a lawyer and an arbitrator who has practised in the Supreme Court of India and various high courts and tribunals. Known for his election management, Kumar oversaw the BJD’s poll preparations from behind the scenes in several western Odisha seats in the 2014 polls. He also had a key role in launching the BJD on various social media platforms. Before the BJD sent him to the Upper House in April 2020, Kumar had served as the State Planning Board's special secretary and the Special Development Councils' advisor under the Naveen Patnaik government. Kumar, who has not been a grassroots politician, has now claimed that he has always been an “admirer” of Prime Minister Modi for his “good works and nation first” policies. Significantly, Kumar’s father Satya Narayan Seth was an active member of the RSS in Bhawanipatna, his home town in Kalahandi district. After the two party MPs jumped ship, several BJD leaders blamed the “party leadership's style of functioning” and its choice of nominees for the Rajya Sabha, which led to this “big embarrassment”. “The party has never groomed a successor to Naveen Babu, who can oversee the day-to-day functioning of the party. While many leaders, who were loyal to the party president were either sacked or forced to leave the party, many potential second-rung leaders were neglected in the last five years. Random leaders were picked for Rajya Sabha, neglecting many senior and hardworking leaders. These things are bound to happen,” said a BJD leader, who requested anonymity. The leader said it is high time Patnaik should intervene and take “adequate course correction measures before it is too late”. BJD spokesperson Kalikesh Singh Deo, however, said “no power can distance BJD from the people of Odisha”. “Wherever the BJP gets majority, they try to finish democracy with such tactics and with the use of money and power, which are against the spirit of the Constitution. It’s a warning not just for Odisha but for the entire country. It’s not a good sign for democracy,” he said. Denying allegations that the BJP was trying to “break BJD”, BJP leader and ex-Union minister Pratap Sarangi said the BJD leaders were quitting their party because of their “organisational weaknesses”. “BJP has nothing to do with it,” he claimed.
