BHUBANESWAR: The BJD is yet to take a decision on whether to support or not the no-confidence motion to be moved by the Telegu Desam Party (TDP) and YSR Congress in Lok Sabha tomorrow.
Both the BJD MPs and political observers are waiting for the decision of the party supremo and chief minister Naveen Patnaik in this regard. Sources said the decision of Naveen is yet to be communicated to the party MPs. With 20 MPs, the BJD is the 5th largest party in the Lok Sabha BJP, Congress, AIADMK and AITMC and the decision of the regional outfit in this regard will indicate the party's course of action ahead of the 2019 elections.
The party president is yet to communicate a decision in this regard to the MPs, Rajya Sabha MP and BJD spokesperson Prasanna Acharya told this paper. Though the BJD and BJP are in a confrontation mode in Odisha after the latter emerged as a strong opposition in the state, the chief minister is yet to take sides
of either the BJP or Congress openly and has continued with the policy of maintaining equi-distance from the two parties.
The BJD supremo, however, did not spare the BJP after the party's debacle in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar by-polls by stating that it is sinking. “The BJP is sinking, sinking fast,” he had said reacting to the party's defeat in the by-polls though he did not open up about an anti-BJP alliance in future. The BJD MPs
were also not present at the dinner party of Congress leader Sonia Gandhi at New Delhi.
Sources in the BJD, however, said that the regional outfit is likely to continue with its policy of maintaining equi-distance from BJP and Congress for the time being. A decision in this regard is
likely to be taken later when things become more clear at the central level.