Hans News Service Bhubaneswar

SeniorBiju Janata Dal leader Sasmit Patra has tendered his resignation from the post of Parliamentary Party leader of the BJD in the Rajya Sabha. The party supremo and former chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday accepted Patra’s resignation. “President Biju Janata Dal Shri Naveen Patnaik has accepted the resignation of Dr Sasmit Patra, MP, as leader of the BJD Parliamentary Party, Rajya Sabha, today,” according to an official party statement.

Sources said some party MPs had recently demanded his removal from the post in a letter to the party president. Internal rift in the party has reportedly forced Patra to step down as BJD’s Rajya Sabha leader. Patra, who is serving his second term in the Rajya Sabha, has been the BJD’s Parliamentary Party leader since 2022, after securing a second tenure in the Upper House.

Meanwhile, it is speculated that corporate honcho and Patnaik’s political secretary, Santrupt Misra, who was elected to the Upper House in the recently concluded Rajya Sabha polls, may replace Patra as the BJD Parliamentary Party leader. It is pertinent here to mention that a section of the regional party turned against Patra following the party’s change of stance during the voting on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill at the last moment in April 2025.

The party, which had earlier announced that it would oppose the bill, voted in its support, triggering widespread discontent among a major section of the party, who launched a scathing attack on Patra. They had also demanded stringent action against Patra for the flip-flop that left them embarrassed.

Patra, an academic-turned-politician and a two-term Rajya Sabha member from Odisha, has emerged as a prominent voice in Parliament on both national and regional matters. Serving as the BJD’s national spokesperson, he has been the party’s key representative in New Delhi and has articulated its position in the Upper House on several important legislative issues.

Earlier this month, Patra had also resigned from the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and IT, protesting remarks made by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey about the legendary Biju Patnaik. Dubey was the head of the committee.