The Biju Janata Dal parliamentary party meeting will be held on Saturday at Naveen Nivas, which would be attended by the newly elected lok Sabha members and the existing Rajya Sabha members. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik would preside.
According to party sources, Patnaik is likely to appoint the new party leaders for both the lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha. Besides, the meeting would discuss the question of party stand in the Parliament in the wake of the new BJP led NDA Government coming to power at the Center. The BJD has been pursuing equidistance from the Congress and the BJP. In the changed situation, the BJD may consider giving issue based support to the new Government at the Center to steer clear its stand in national politics keeping in view the State’s interest.During the meeting, formal election of the BJD Parliamentary Party leaders will be held. However, it is not clear who would head the party in the lok Sabha and in the Rajya Sabha.
The names of eight-time MP Arjun Charan Sethi and the three-timer to lok Sabha Bhatruhari Mahatab are doing the rounds for the Parliamentary post. It is unlikely that the BJD chief would re-appoint Sethi as the BJD leader in lok Sabha.
However, considering the performance in the lok Sabha , Mahatab has an advantage over Sethi. Since Sethi belongs to backward community, Patnaik may not want to give a negative signal to this segment at the same time. Similarly, the newly elected Rajya Sabha member Kalpataru Das is likely to be appointed as the BJD leader in the Upper House as the present leader Sahi Bhushan Behera was elected to State Assembly and would resign soon. Das is a preferred choice as he has a long stint in the Assembly. Besides, he has already served as the Parliamentary Affairs Minister in the State. Of the six Rajya Sabha members Sashi Bhushan Behera and Rabi Narayan Mohapatra have already become MlAs. Though Baisnab is a senior member in Rajya Sabha in BJD, his appointment is unlikely.