Former minister and BJD leader Pratap Jena has joined the chorus of demands for party chief Naveen Patnaik to make his stand clear on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill.

Earlier, some leaders had expressed their dissatisfaction over division within the party regarding the issue with some of its Rajya Sabha members voting in favour of the bill and others opposing it.

BJD Rajya Sabha member Debasish Samantaray posted on X that the party’s failure to maintain a clear stance on the issue has pained him, and that is the reason why he did not participate in the voting process.

Samantaray, on X, said how there had been a standing instruction from Naveen to oppose the bill in Rajya Sabha, and that the party chief had discussed the issue with members of the Muslim
communities.

“The change of stance is going to hit the party severely and the party is also going to lose the trust of the Muslim communities. Now the crores of Biju Premi wanted to know who is responsible for the sudden change of stance of the party on the issue,” Samantaray posted.

On the other hand, in his letter to Patnaik, Jena stated: “Since its inception as a party, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has been working for the cause of the Muslims. The BJD has been working for the socio-economic development of the Muslims for the last 24 years under your leadership, and I do have the confidence that it will continue to do so in the coming days.

“Sasmit Patra’s social media post on the issue of voting for the Waqf (Amendment) Bill was against the party’s standing principle. Earlier, you also opined that the party would vote against the waqf bill. Under which circumstances, Sasmit Patra took a stance against the party’s principle has surprised all. His statement on this issue is unfortunate and painful, too. There is a feeling that there is a conspiracy behind it,”
he said.

The letter cited that there was a need to examine who was the conspirator behind it and how Patra, being the party leader in the Rajya Sabha, wrote such a post urging the leaders to use their conscience while voting on the waqf bill.

Patra had said that there was no party whip and the party entrusted its members with the responsibility of exercising their conscience in the best interests of justice, harmony and the rights of all communities.

Former minister Jena in his letter said: “I request the leadership to issue a show-cause notice to Patra and find out where the mistake was. It should be examined and necessary action should be taken. I have confidence that you will seriously take the issue and initiate necessary action, keeping the larger interests of the state in mind.”

Other BJD leaders also mentioned Patra posting about using their conscience to vote in the waqf bill when one of its MPs, Munna Khan, raised his voice against the bill in the Rajya Sabha during the voting. The bill got the nod of the Rajya Sabha on Friday.

On Friday evening, BJD senior leaders met Patnaik at Naveen Niwas and expressed their concern over the issue. Patnaik is yet to open up on the issue.