BJD to support Opposition candidate in Vice Presidential poll

Bhubaneswar: In an end to all speculations over BJD’s stand in the Vice Presidential election, the conch party supremo today made it clear that it will support Opposition candidate Gopalkrishna Gandhi in the poll.

An announcement in this regard was made by Chief Minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik here today.

“The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) will support Shri Gopal Gandhi as the Vice President candidate,” Patnaik told reporters.

Speculations were rife that the BJD might support NDA’s Vice Presidential candidate Venkaiah Naidu as it had earlier supported NDA’s Presidential candidate Ram Nath Kovind.

The United Progressive Alliance’s (UPA) candidate Gopalkrishna Gandhi, former West Bengal Governor and Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson, filed his nomination papers earlier in the day.

Gopalkrishna Gandhi and Patnaik are believed to be close friends much before Patnaik entered politics.

Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party has accused the BJD of having a tacit deal with the Congress.

“Naveen Patnaik has supported Gopalkrishna Gandhi, an anti-national, who signed the mercy plea of terror convict Yakub Memon. The support of BJD to a Congress candidate shows tacit deal between them,” said state BJP president Basanta Panda.