Bhubaneswar: Amid turmoil in the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) over the Waqf Bill voting row, party's Rajya Sabha MP Debashish Samantaray, without naming anyone, came down heavily on 'some' leaders of the BJD today.

In a Facebook post, Samantaray said some leaders of the BJD don't understand its ideals. They are not familiar with the ideals of party president Naveen Patnaik, he said, adding that they seem to be acting on someone else’s directions.

"Recently, some individuals who have joined the Biju Janata Dal and received positions within the party neither understand the party's history nor the ideals of Naveen Babu or Biju Babu. Since the party’s inception, lakhs of workers and senior leaders have struggled and fought to elevate a regional party to the national stage. But today, some leaders are unfamiliar with Naveen Babu’s ideals, his commitment to secularism, and his dedication to Odisha. They seem to be acting on someone else’s directions. They neither belong to the party, nor to Odisha, nor to Naveen Patnaik," he wrote in the post.

Debashish Samantaray further mentioned that the party lost the 2024 elections over 'Odia Asmita'

"I would like to say that the defeat of the Biju Janata Dal in the last election was due to 'Odia Asmita'.  We are people of the land of Lord Jagannath. Protecting our identity is our foremost goal," he concluded.

In a related development, several prominent leaders of the BJD today met at a hotel in Bhubaneswar and later at the residence of party leader Pratap Keshari Deb.

Yesterday, senior party leaders had met Patnaik at his residence reportedly to resolve the crisis. Reports said that the leaders brainstormed on the ongoing unrest inside the party over the Waqf Bill voting.

The internal unrest in the BJD escalated after its leaders engaged in a war of words over former bureaucrat and Patnaik's close aide, V.K. Pandian’s alleged role in the unexpected and sudden change of decision of the party allowing its MPs to vote on the bill in Rajya Sabha according to their conscience.

Several members of the minority community under the leadership of BJD MP Muzibulla Khan had met Patnaik and demanded action against party's Rajya Sabha MP Sasmit Patra, who first made the announcement regarding the change of stance on the bill.

Patra also voted in support of the bill and later revealed the same before the media persons, causing internal turmoil in the regional party.

The minority community members, during their meeting with Patnaik, also demanded the suspension of Patra from the party for supporting the Waqf Bill, deviating from the party’s decision.