All seven Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MPs on Tuesday pledged allegiance to the party and its leader Naveen Patnaik at a news meet here at the Constitution Club of India against the backdrop of speculation about possible defections.

Parliamentary party leader Sasmit Patra accused “vested interests” in the media of airing “rumours” of their possible defection after the MPs met Rajya Sabha Chairman Jagdeep Dhankhar last week.

Patra said: “We are with the BJD till our last breath…. If these vested interests in the media don’t refrain, we will take formal legal action.”

The BJD is currently represented only in the Rajya Sabha. Four MPs of the party have defected to the BJP this year, three of whom have been re-elected to Parliament on ruling party tickets. The BJD lost power to the BJP in Odisha this year, ending Patnaik’s 24-year rule as chief minister.

On all issues currently in Parliament — such as simultaneous elections, the no-trust vote against Dhankhar, pleas for the impeachment of anAllahabad High Court judge for purported anti-Muslim comments — the BJD MPs said Patnaik would take the final call.

MP Manas Ranjan Mangaraj told The Telegraph: “No one has approached us to support the no-trust vote (against Dhankhar). When the time comes, our leader Naveen Patnaik will decide. We will also discuss with him other issues such as the pleas for the impeachment of the judge.”

Asked about simultaneous polls, Patra said: “The BJD does not have a presence in the Lok Sabha. When the bills come to the Rajya Sabha, the party will take a decision…. BJD president Naveen Patnaik is seized of the matter.”