Rift in BJD Spills into Open As Workers Protest Outside Naveen Patnaik’s Residence over Waqf Bill Row

 Bhubaneswar: In a rare display of internal dissent, tensions within Odisha’s ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) exploded into public view on Monday as party workers staged an unannounced protest outside Naveen Niwas, the official residence of party supremo and former Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

Protesters, identifying themselves as loyal grassroots BJD members, raised fiery slogans of “Pandian go back,”directly challenging the man widely regarded as the architect of the party’s electoral and administrative strategy in recent years. The demonstration marked a stunning shift for a party known for its rigid internal discipline and image of unified command under Patnaik’s two-decade-long leadership.

The immediate trigger was the dissonance within the party’s parliamentary wing. Senior BJD MP Munna Khan, who joined the protesters at Naveen Niwas, has openly criticised party colleague and Rajya Sabha MP Sasmit Patra and three others for allegedly supporting the Waqf Bill in contradiction to a party resolution to oppose it.

“My leader Naveen Patnaik had directed me to oppose the Waqf Bill till the last moment. But our floor leader, Sasmit Patra, made some tweets that created confusion. We have met Naveen Patnaik and demanded Patra’s suspension. The party president assured us of appropriate action after an investigation,” Khan told reporters.

While the number of protestors remained modest, their message was unambiguous—and unprecedented. Their chants and placards signaled a direct challenge to the perceived backroom control wielded by Pandian, who has been the subject of both admiration and controversy since transitioning from the civil service into political advisory roles.

“Who is driving the party’s decisions? Why is Pandian allowed to influence such sensitive issues? Naveen Babu must break his silence,” said one protester, speaking on condition of anonymity.

According to analysts, Monday’s protest, witnessed by political watchers across the state and beyond, may prove to be a critical inflection point for the BJD. The party, which has long prided itself on cohesion and clean governance, is now grappling with internal fractures over transparency, leadership, and ideological clarity.

The BJD leadership, including Patnaik and Pandian, has so far remained silent on the unfolding dissent. But analysts suggest the optics of party workers protesting outside Naveen Niwas—a place long associated with loyalty and central command—may resonate far beyond Odisha’s borders, raising questions about succession, internal democracy, and the future direction of the regional powerhouse.