BHUBANESWAR: Half an hour after announcing its support for the INDIA bloc’s Odisha bandh call on Thursday, the BJD on Wednesday backtracked, saying it would neither support nor oppose the shutdown and would maintain an independent political position.
The U-turn came a day after BJD Rajya Sabha members participated in a march by Opposition MPs in New Delhi over the demand for resignation of chief election commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.
The BJD volte-face invited sharp criticism from the Congress which alleged that the regional outfit had a ‘secret understanding’ with the BJP as it had supported the NDA government on key issues at the Centre before 2024.
The INDIA bloc has given the bandh call over multiple issues including the demand for Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation over alleged irregularities in the SIR of electoral rolls, resignation of School and Mass Education minister Nityananda Gond and withdrawal of the MMDR Amendment Act, 2026.
Earlier in the day, senior BJD leader and Opposition chief whip Pramila Mallick announced that the party would support the INDIA bloc’s shutdown call on Thursday. “Our party (BJD) has extended support, and we have already protested against the ECI’s actions, particularly the alleged wrongful removal of voters from the electoral rolls. Therefore, we will support tomorrow’s strike and extend our full support to the movement,” she said.
However, within 30 minutes, Mallick reversed her position and announced that the BJD would not support the bandh. She said the party would maintain an independent position and extend support to issues concerning interests of the people and the state, irrespective of whether other political parties backed the BJD’s agitations.
“Recently, we organised an economic blockade in Sundargarh. Did anyone support us then? Wherever the interests of the people or the state are harmed, BJD has fought. We will stand by that fight,” she said. Reiterating that the BJD had neither joined any alliance nor extended support to any political party, Mallick said the party would maintain equal distance from all political parties.
Later, addressing a media conference, party spokesperson Lenin Mohanty said the BJD neither supported nor opposed Thursday’s bandh. “We have maintained an independent and principled position. Our focus is on the rights and interests of the people of Odisha. BJD maintains equidistance from both the BJP and the Congress and will continue to take its decisions based on the interests of Odisha and its people,” he said.
Mohanty said that as a responsible regional party, the BJD would continue to raise issues concerning Odisha, question policies detrimental to the state’s interests and stand with the people while maintaining its independent political identity and equidistance from the BJP and Congress. Congress vice-president Santosh Singh Saluja alleged that the BJD changed its stand after receiving a phone call from New Delhi. “The BJD does not have the courage to take an independent decision,” he told mediapersons here.