Why did BJD walk out ahead of no-trust vote debate?

Not just other MPs but even BJD MPs were taken by surprise when their leader Bhartruhari Mahtab stood up just before the no-confidence motion against Narendra Modi government was taken up and announced their walkout in protest against both NDA and UPA.

One of their MPs, Pinaki Mishra, was even ready with his speech to almost tear into BJP-led NDA while also criticising UPA but two telephone calls to Delhi that lasted for around one to two minutes by Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at around 10 am changed the gameplan.

The calls went to party leader in Lok Sabha Mahtab and chief whip Thathagata Sathpathy during which Patnaik instructed them to walk out at the beginning of the debate. One of the MPs, who was inside Lok Sabha, told DH, "we did not know what was happening. Mahtab stood up and announced the walkout."

While the expectation was that the 20-member BJD would either walk out or abstain after participating in the debate, party sources said Patnaik decided to tweak the strategy to ensure that BJD remained in limelight and send a signal.

"There was no point in walking out at the end. Voting in favour or against did not make any mathematical sense as the numbers are in favour of BJP. But walking out before the debate made political sense. If we had walked out at the time of voting or abstained, it would have been read as we supporting the BJP in an indirect way," a senior MP said.

The feeling in BJD was that the results are already settled and mere speeches in Lok Sabha would not have made any difference. Sources said the BJD would not have gained anything by participating in the debate and in the state they had put the BJP in a spot.

A senior leader said Patnaik is very clear about keeping equidistance from both BJP and Congress but the reality is that support for BJP is growing in the party. "At least in 12-14 districts, BJP is emerging. It is not that Congress is not there. That is why we are equidistant to both," he said.