Delhi, July 12: Amid an unseen political rift in BJD centering the Waqf Bill in the past, the party MPs had reportedly voted in favour of the motion in the Rajya Sabha.
The proceeding of the Rajya Sabha records that, the BJD members had voted in unison supporting the highly debated Waqf Bill.
Thus, the theory featuring the spilt in the party and varied opinion on the Waqf Bill has been proved baseless, reveals the record.
At a time when the Waqf Bill was one of the tough discussions across the nation and overseas as well, it was presumed that three BJD members supported the Bill where as three opposed it vehemently.
It was also alleged that one abstained following a political row. It’s also proved incorrect from the Upper House’s record.
The Waqf Bill, when presented in the Rajya Sabha on April 4, drew widespread speculation regarding the BJD’s position. However, the official floor version of the debate and voting record clearly shows that five of the seven BJD MPs—Dr. Sasmit Patra, Manas Mangaraj, Sulata Deo, Subhasish Khuntia, and Niranjan Bishi—voted in favour of the Bill. Only one MP, Munna Khan, voted against it.
Earlier, reports had claimed that MP Debashish Samantaray abstained from voting, but this has also turned out to be inaccurate.
The official record of the Rajya Sabha during the session confirmed that Samantaray was not present in the House during the voting that clearly shows no abstention.
