Bhubaneswar, Apr 10 (PTI) The alleged rift in the opposition BJD over its flip-flop stand on the Waqf Bill voting further widened on Thursday, with former party MLA Pravat Tripathy accusing party president Naveen Patnaik of attempting to divert attention from the main issue.

Addressing a press conference, Tripathy, a four-time MLA, alleged that Patnaik in his statement to the media on Wednesday did not speak on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill voting issue, which has created ripples across the party and the state over BJD’s change of stand at the last moment.

“He (Patnaik) lied on my suspension. The party revoked action against me in 2017. I did not urge the party to revoke my suspension, but he revoked it keeping in view my requirements. Therefore, I extensively campaigned for BJD during the 2019 and 2024 elections,” Tripathy claimed.

The BJD, however, rejected the allegation and its spokesperson Lelin Mohanty said: “Tripathy was suspended twice from the party in 1998 and 2014 for indiscipline. His allegations against BJD president were not based on facts. As a senior politician, Tripathy should make statements based on facts.” Mohanty also showed a copy of the Orissa High Court order, which reportedly mentioned that it was not possible to conclude there was no prima facie against him (Tripathy).

Meanwhile, two senior leaders of the regional party, Ganeswar Behera and Ashwini Patra, asserted that the BJD president gives importance to discipline in the party.

Patnaik on Wednesday had said: “I want to state clearly that ex-MLA Pravat Tripathy was expelled from the Biju Janata Dal some years ago because he was indicted in a chit-fund case and spent some years in jail. I want to clarify again that he doesn’t belong to the party.” Countering him, Tripathy said he was a member of the BJD till Wednesday evening.

“During the 2019 elections, the BJD president and then chief minister was present at a meeting which I had addressed. I also attended party programmes in Cuttack district after the COVID pandemic,” he claimed.

Tripathy also said that the then No. 2 in the BJD (referring to former bureaucrat V K Pandian) had hailed his contribution to the party.

The ex-MLA came to the limelight when he joined the bandwagon over the Waqf Bill voting issue, where BJD MPs voted both for and against it.

Though the BJD initially decided to oppose the Bill, it changed its stand and told party MPs to vote according to their “conscience”. PTI AAM MNB AAM RBT