BJD Joins INDIA Bloc March In Delhi Over SIR, Voter Roll Deletions
All five BJD Rajya Sabha MPs join Opposition protest following Naveen Patnaik's directive
The Biju Janata Dal (BJD), which has maintained an equidistant position from the BJP-led NDA and the Opposition INDIA bloc, on Tuesday joined the latter’s protest march in Delhi against the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and alleged deletion of voters’ names.
All five Rajya Sabha members of the regional party participated in the march following instructions from BJD president Naveen Patnaik.
BJD parliamentary party leader Manas Mangaraj said the party decided to join the protest after its repeated requests to the Odisha Chief Electoral Officer to review names allegedly deleted from electoral rolls during the SIR exercise went unaddressed.
“BJD president Naveen Patnaik instructed the party’s Rajya Sabha MPs to participate in the Opposition parties’ march. This was done to register our protest against the Election Commission’s inaction to address our grievance,” Mangaraj told reporters in New Delhi.
According to national media reports, Mangaraj also said Patnaik had earlier sought the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over his alleged role in the SIR exercise.
The BJD’s participation is significant as the party has consistently maintained that it is neither part of the NDA nor the INDIA bloc. In Parliament, it has generally adopted issue-based positions on government measures.
Opposition parties have alleged that the SIR exercise has led to the deletion of a large number of names from electoral rolls. They have cited figures including claims of more than 20 lakh deletions in Odisha and over 13 crore nationally.
The Election Commission and authorities have maintained that electoral-roll revision is aimed at ensuring accurate rolls and removing ineligible entries, while eligible voters have avenues to file claims and objections.
The development comes amid a changing political landscape in Odisha, where the BJP came to power in 2024 after ending the BJD’s 24-year rule. The BJD has since sought to retain its political space while maintaining its stated policy of equidistance from both national blocs.
The party has said its participation in the protest is aimed at raising concerns over the transparency and integrity of the electoral process.
Political analyst Srirama Dash described the BJD’s participation as a calibrated move, arguing that the party was joining the Opposition on a specific issue without necessarily abandoning its policy of equidistance.