The Nirvik Bureau, Bhubaneswar, 5 April 2025
The voting on the Waqf Amendment Bill has once again exposed the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) badly. It continues to prove that it is a party without any ideology and without any conviction or commitment to a cause.
Everyone knows how it kept supporting the BJP in the Rajya Sabha over the last 5-6 years. Despite claiming to be equidistant from the Congress and the BJP, they kept voting in favour of the BJP in Bill after Bill. The surreptitious way in which Article 370 was scrapped would not have been possible without the BJD’s support. The manner in which the powers of the elected government in Delhi were snatched away and handed over to the Lt. Governor of Delhi was possible only because of the BJD. It was shocking to see a regional party supporting excessive centrist tendencies of the Union Government. One of the reasons why the AAP failed to retain Delhi was its forced lack of performance because all powers to perform had been snatched away by the BJP government at the centre. Thus, the BJD’s role in the demise of the AAP Government cannot be overlooked.
Coming back to the Waqf Amendment Bill, the BJD’s hilarious flip-flop has exposed it once again as a party without any ideology or principles. Many years ago, BJD supremo Mr. Naveen Patnaik had said, “every bone in my body is secular.” Alas, that is now consigned to the dustbin of political history. Despite the Waqf Amendment Bill having serious flaws and the BJD stating earlier that it would oppose the Bill, the party made a U turn by saying its members can vote as per their ‘conscience’. When the party has lost its conscience, what could be expected of the collective conscience of its Rajya Sabha members? The results are there for all to see. Some voted in favour, maybe one against, and some others abstained. And all this after one member had opposed the Bill on the floor of the Rajya Sabha!
What is the reason for this embarrassing U turn? What were the BJD’s compulsions for such a U turn? Who decided and under whose pressure? Is the secret alliance between the BJD and the BJP continuing still? These are questions that Mr. Naveen Patnaik and his coterie need to answer. Many BJD leaders, including some of the Rajya Sabha members, are extremely unhappy at this decision and are openly questioning the U turn. The already beleaguered BJD could see a further erosion in its political capital and fortunes.
The Waqf Amendment Bill would soon become part of the amended Waqf Act and the Muslims of India have already started feeling let down once more. After the controversial Ram Mandir judgement and the surreptitious scrapping of Article 370, this is one more blow to their sense of security.
