Bhubaneswar: The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) president and former Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Saturday launched a sharp attack on the BJP over the proposed delimitation exercise linked to the women’s reservation bill, asserting that his party has always championed women’s empowerment but will not accept any reduction in Odisha’s political representation.
In a strongly worded statement, Patnaik said: “Biju Janata Dal has always stood for women’s empowerment, from the Panchayat level up to Parliament. We are completely against reducing the political power of Odisha through Delimitation. The people of Odisha have witnessed as to who has fought for their rights and how the BJP compromised Odisha’s rights. People are indeed shocked that not a single BJP MP from Odisha raised their voice against this injustice. By supporting the reduction of political power for Odisha, the BJP stands exposed before the people of Odisha. BJD will always continue to fight for the rights of Odisha.”
Patnaik’s remarks come amid ongoing debates on the Constitution (131st Amendment) Bill, 2026, which seeks to facilitate delimitation of parliamentary and assembly constituencies based on the next Census, while implementing the 33% women’s reservation in Lok Sabha and state assemblies.
The BJD supremo has repeatedly expressed support for greater representation of women in politics, highlighting that Odisha pioneered 50% reservation for women in Panchayati Raj institutions under his leadership and that his father, Biju Patnaik, was a strong advocate for women’s empowerment. However, he has warned that linking women’s quota with delimitation could disproportionately affect states like Odisha that have successfully controlled population growth, potentially reducing the state’s share of Lok Sabha seats from around 3.9% to 3.4%.
In recent days, Patnaik wrote to all Odisha MPs cutting across party lines and to Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, urging them to raise their voices both inside and outside Parliament and to consider a special session of the Odisha Assembly to safeguard the state’s interests. He has called for either adequate safeguards or decoupling of the women’s reservation from the delimitation process.
