‘BJD yet to decide stand on Presidential polls,’ says Naveen Patnaik

‘BJD yet to decide stand on Presidential polls,’ says Naveen Patnaik
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In 2017, the BJD had supported NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind over the Opposition’s Meira Kumar after Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to him seeking his support.

Bhubaneswar: Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday said his party is yet to decide on its stand on the impending Presidential polls and also on whether it will be part of the proposed third front.

Patnaik, who is on a five-day visit to Delhi to attend the chief ministers and chief justices meeting as well as his proposed meeting with Union ministers, said his party would wait to see the candidates of both the NDA as well as the opposition before taking any decision on it. “It’s still early days. We will look into it when the matter comes up,” he told a TV channel when asked if the Biju Janata Dal would be a part of any proposed third front.

Patnaik said his party will continue its stance of being equidistant and will prioritise its independence over anything else. “We have always preferred our independence and the matter of the presidential candidate hasn’t come up for discussion. Let’s see who the candidate is, that is more important,” he said.

In 2017, the BJD had supported NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind over the Opposition’s Meira Kumar after Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to him seeking his support.

BJD’s support to the NDA is crucial in the Presidential polls as it is falling short of a majority by about 1.2 per cent of the total votes. With 20 MPs in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, BJD has 3.22 per cent of votes enough to help BJP go past the majority mark in the elections.

The President of India is elected by an electoral college formed by 776 MPs and 4,120 legislators. In the Presidential poll, the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs carry a vote-value of 708 while vote value for each MLA depends on the state’s population (based on the 1971 Census) and its number of assembly seats. UP’s MLAs carry the highest value among all the states.

While many non-BJP and non-Congress parties like TMC and AAP are expected to vote against the NDA candidate, Jagan Reddy’s YSRCP and Naveen Patnaik’s BJD is being seen as possible saviours. Both parties backed the NDA’s Citizenship (Amendment) Act as well as the scrapping of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir in Parliament. The Biju Janata Dal though often referred to as a fence sitter, has most of the time extended its support to the BJP in the passage of crucial Bills either by supporting the party or strategically absenting.


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