By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR: On December 26, 2025, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) marked its 29th foundation day at Sankha Bhawan in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. Party supremo and Leader of Opposition Naveen Patnaik addressed leaders and workers, emphasizing the party’s resilience and long-term future.
He stated that the BJD would continue to serve as the voice of Odisha’s people for the next 100 years, rejecting rumors of the party fracturing as “baseless misinformation.
Patnaik described the BJD’s 24-year rule from 2000 to 2024 as a “golden era” of development, including poverty reduction, women’s empowerment, agricultural growth, and establishing a distinct identity for Odisha.
He criticized the current BJP-led “double-engine” government for failing in areas like agriculture, women’s safety, law and order, and youth employment, urging party youth to counter propaganda on social media and turn challenges into opportunities.
This statement comes amid ongoing challenges for the BJD following its defeat in the 2024 Odisha assembly elections, where it lost power to the BJP after ruling uninterrupted for over two decades. The party has faced a wave of resignations and defections, particularly in recent months, with several leaders and local functionaries switching to the BJP. Notable recent exits include:
On December 6, 2025, the two sons of veteran BJD leader and former minister Prafulla Samal—Prayas Kanti Samal and Pranit Kanti Samal—along with block chairpersons from Bhadrak, Bonth, Bhandaripokhari, and Basudevpur, resigned from the BJD and joined the BJP in the presence of state BJP president Manmohan Samal.
Earlier in December (around December 1, 2025), three block chairpersons from Bhadrak district—Manoranjan Ghadei (Bonth), Urmila Nayak (Bhadrak), and Sumati Sethi (Bhandaripokhari)—resigned from the BJD, sparking speculation of a switch to the BJP amid internal dissent.
On December 16, 2025, three leaders from Subarnapur district, including two nephews of Sonepur MLA Niranjan Pujari (Ramesh Pujari and Umesh Pujari), quit the BJD.
In late November 2025, BJD Rajya Sabha MP Debashish Samantray resigned from his party post as vice president of the Senior Citizen Cell, criticizing the party’s failure to address its 2024 election loss and accusing a “powerful coterie” of undermining it.
These defections are part of a broader trend since the BJD’s 2024 ouster, with observers attributing them to internal dissatisfaction, lack of introspection on the electoral defeat, and opportunities in the ruling BJP. Patnaik’s foundation day speech appears aimed at boosting morale, promoting unity, and signaling a rebuild focused on grassroots efforts and countering narratives of decline.
