Bhubaneswar: Amid rising discontent within the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), party president and Leader of Opposition Naveen Patnaik today firmly defended former aide VK Pandian, stating he should not be blamed for any of the party’s recent decisions.

Following a meeting with party leaders at Naveen Niwas, Patnaik clarified Pandian had left the party more than 10 months ago and has had no involvement in its affairs since.

“I want to state quite clearly that Kartikeyan Pandian, in the past, has done a lot of good work not only for the state but also for the party. He shouldn't be criticised or blamed for anything. Also, he left the party more than 10 months ago and is not involved in any of the party's work,” Patnaik said.

His remarks come in the wake of internal criticism directed at Pandian, particularly over the voting pattern of some BJD Rajya Sabha MPs on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill. Of the party’s seven MPs in the Upper House, three voted in favour of the Bill, three against it, while Debashish Samantaray abstained.

In a pointed message to party leaders, Patnaik also disapproved of meetings being held outside the party’s official premises. “I would like to state here that I disapprove of any quite large meetings in hotels held by party members. They have the party office 'Sankha Bhawan', which is a large building where they have been told they should hold their meetings and they should do so,” Patnaik said.

Earlier in the day, senior BJD leaders including Shashibhushan Behera, Chandra Sarathi Behera, Narsingha Sahu, Ashok Panda, Prafulla Samal, and Bhupinder Singh, held a meeting at a hotel in Bhubaneswar. Former MLA Pravat Tripathy also attended the gathering. Reports suggest the leaders at the meeting held Pandian responsible for the party’s flip-flop on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill.

Addressing Tripathy’s presence, Patnaik said, “I also want to state here quite clearly that Pravat Tripathy, ex-MLA, was expelled from the BJD some years ago because he was indicted in the chit-fund case and has spent some years in jail. I want to clarify again that he doesn't belong to the party.”

Notably, Patnaik had revoked Tripathy’s suspension from the party on November 10, 2017.

Patnaik’s statement appears aimed at quelling internal dissent and reinforcing that the BJD’s present course is independent of Pandian’s past involvement.