An attempt was made to appropriate the Biju legacy from the BJD on the 29th death anniversary of former chief minister Biju Patnaik on Friday.

On the occasion, BJD dissidents and loyalists of Biju Babu came together under a new platform, Odisha Nagarika Mancha, and organised a separate event to pay tribute to him.

The leaders argued that Biju Babu belongs to the entire state and should not be confined within the boundaries of any single political party. However, BJD continues to project itself as the sole inheritor of his legacy.

In Bhubaneswar, the Biju loyalists, under the leadership of BJP-backed Rajya Sabha member Dilip Ray, former minister Bijoy Mohapatra, former MLA Pravat Tripathy, former MP Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, and others, organised a parallel meeting at the Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology auditorium under the Odisha Nagarika Mancha umbrella.

Most of these leaders who had earlier united to form the BJD after Biju Patnaik’s death on April 17, 1997, were later sidelined. Now they have joined hands to form the new platform.

Former BJD MLA Pravat Tripathy said: “For the last 24 years, the BJD has been thriving on Biju legacy. But we have found complacency in the BJD. We need to carry forward the Biju legacy. Biju Babu was a true democrat. But this spirit of democracy has been missing in BJD.

“The political parties have their own compulsion and are sometimes unable to take up the issues pertaining to Odisha’s interest. The new platform would take up the issue pertaining to the state’s interest. It’s not a political platform,” Tripathy said.

The legacy debate intensified after BJP MP Nishikant Dubey made controversial remarks on Biju Babu and tried to portray him as a CIA agent. Following widespread criticism and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s praise of Biju Babu, Dubey backtracked and apologised.

Another leader, Amar Prasad Satpathy, said: “The BJD lost the election in 2024 as the party removed Biju Babu’s pictures and replaced them with photos of others. Those who did this heinous job are now alarmed.”

Bijoy Mohapatra, a staunch Naveen Patnaik critic, said: “People who admired Biju Babu came together to deliberate on the ideology of Biju Babu. There is nothing political about it.”

BJD MLA Arun Sahoo said: “Any attempt to use Biju Babu’s name for political gain will not succeed.”

On the other hand, BJD organised state-wide events to commemorate the death anniversary of the legendary leader. The party organised a meeting at Shankha Bhavan to pay homage to the leader.

In his address, Naveen said that during the 1990s, when Biju Babu was the chief minister, he took significant steps to empower women by placing them in constitutional positions. “Coincidentally, on Biju Babu’s death anniversary, a final decision is being taken in Parliament regarding the women’s reservation bill. Therefore, BJD extends its support to the bill,” said Naveen.

Naveen said that history bears witness to the continuous neglect Odisha has faced at the hands of the Centre. “The delimitation bill has now raised a question mark over Odisha’s political identity, putting Odia pride at risk,” he said.