Bhubaneswar: Leader of opposition and former CM Naveen Patnaik on Monday said BJP MP Nishikant Dubey “needs mental doctor’s attention” for his alleged comments about Biju Patnaik, calling them “outrageous”, even as BJD Rajya Sabha MPs staged a walkout on the issue.Dubey, who had claimed Biju was a link between the US govt, CIA and then PM Jawaharlal Nehru, clarified that he had never said anything derogatory about the former Odisha CM and praised his role as a freedom fighter.Speaking to the media outside the assembly, Naveen said he was surprised by the comments attributed to Dubey. “I don’t think he knows that Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had given him an office next to his in Delhi while he was still chief minister of Odisha to help with strategy during the Chinese conflict and fight the Chinese. I was about 13 years old then, but I remember how furious Biju babu was with the Chinese attack and how much he did to repel it. I think the MP needs some mental doctor’s attention,” Naveen said.Raising the issue in Rajya Sabha, BJD MP Sasmit Patra said the party wanted to place on record its strong protest against the “false and concocted” remarks made by Dubey against Biju. “He called Biju Patnaik-ji a CIA agent. This is the level to which today the ruling party has fallen. This is utterly shameful. BJD strongly opposes it and in protest we are walking out,” Patra said.Dubey, on his part, said the BJP had always shown respect to Biju. “When Congress did injustice to Biju Babu, Jan Sangh and BJP stood by him. I am releasing a series on the acts of the Nehru-Gandhi family. Tell me which allegation did I level at Biju babu in my tweet? If anyone is hurt by what I have written, I can only try to make them understand,” Dubey said.However, the comment didn’t go down well within the state BJP. Party MLA Babu Singh, without naming Dubey, said the discussions and remarks surrounding the late former CM of Odisha are regrettable. “Biju Babu was not merely a people’s leader; until his very last breath, he was ceaselessly devoted to the service of Odisha and the Odia people. I strongly condemn in the harshest terms the unseemly remarks made against him. No matter who the individual may be, such comments against a people’s leader like Biju Babu are utterly unacceptable,” Singh wrote on X, demanding an apology.“This incident has dealt a profound blow to the sentiments of the general public across Odisha. Those who are speaking out against him in such a manner should refrain from such indecorous behaviour and publicly offer an unconditional apology for their mistake,” he said.Chandra Kumar Bose, the grandnephew of freedom fighter Subhas Chandra Bose, was critical of the alleged comments against Biju. Taking to X, the former BJP member wrote, “A serious charge levelled against respected Biju Patnaik ji-must be condemned in no uncertain terms. Biju babu was very close to the Bose family-particularly my father- Amiya Nath Bose, Barrister-at-law, Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha), Ambassador to Myanmar. Little knowledge is a dangerous thing & public personalities must refrain from diabolical statements just to please their masters! Jai Hind!Odisha Congress MLA Sagar Charan Das said Dubey’s comment has revealed the real face of the BJP. “Distorting history, tarnishing & hurling insults at Odisha’s pride like Biju babu, a towering Indian, is nothing but their way of treating our freedom fighters. Is this the Odia Asmita they had promised while coming to power in Odisha? This mute, remote-controlled BJP govt has no spine to even object to this. I strongly condemn these misleading & derogatory statements,” Das said.
