BHUBANESWAR: Even though the BJD extended support to NDA Presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind immediately after announcement of his candidature, the party has decided to take a decision on Vice-Presidential candidate only after NDA announces its nominee.
BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik has taken a decision that after the NDA announces its Vice-Presidential candidate, the regional outfit will announce its decision in this regard.
The issue came up for discussion at the BJD Parliamentary Party meeting here on Saturday. Sources said, announcement of Gopal Krishna as UPA’s VP candidate has put the Chief Minister in a dilemma.
Meanwhile, the issue of Western Odisha MPs not holding any Parliamentary post is also reported to have been raised at the meeting. The Chief Minister assured the Western Odisha MPs that they would be allowed to hold some of the Parliamentary posts, the sources said.
While Bhartruhari Mahatab, MP from Cuttack is BJD’s Parliamentary Party leader, Dhenkanal MP Tathagat Satpathy is the chief whip. Puri MP Pinaki Mishra is the member of general purposes committee. Similarly, Mahtab is also member of Public Accounts Committee (PAC) while Balasore MP Rabindra Jena is a member of committee on public undertakings.
Nabarangpur MP Balabhadra Majhi is the only MP from non-coastal district holding a post in Parliament. He is a Member, Standing Committee on Railways and Consultative Committee, Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution. BJD has eight members in the Lok Sabha from Western Odisha.