All eyes are set on Biju Janata Dal’s next move in the upcoming presidential election. The party, which has so far been claiming that it maintains equidistance from the BJP and the Congress, is yet to open its cards.
BJD president and Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik has been tight-lipped on the issue even though only about a month is left for the presidential election. The election to the president’s post will be held on July 18.
Though senior BJP leader and defence minister Rajnath Singh has already talked to the chief minister on the issue and solicited his support, the BJD is yet to make its stance clear. Official sources said the party would make its stand clear at the last moment.
Though there has been speculation that the BJD would support the NDA candidate as Naveen during his visit to New Delhi last month had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and home minister Amit Shah. However, no formal declaration of support has been made so far.
Naveen keeps his cards close to the chest in such matters as every vote in the presidential poll can be a bargaining chip. Like a clever politician, he will extract his pound of flesh before declaring his support for a particular candidate. This has been his style right from the beginning. Keenly aware of his strong position he would wait till the end before making his mind clear.
The president is elected by an electoral college comprising members of Parliament, state legislative Assemblies and Union territories. For the president’s election, the total value of votes is 10,86,431. NDA has 48.8 per cent of the total votes. It’s only short of 1.2 per cent votes amounting to 13,000 votes only.
The BJD having 113 MLAs in the Odisha Assembly, 12 members in Lok Sabha, and eight members in Rajya Sabha, has a 3 per cent vote share in the presidential polls. “If the BJD supports the NDA, it will be an easy victory for its candidate,” said a senior political observer.
The BJD’s national spokesperson Sasmit Patra said the party supremo would take a call on the issue at the right moment.
