Bhubaneswar: The BJD supremo and former Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday accepted the resignation of senior party MP Sasmit Patra as the parliamentary party leader in the Rajya Sabha.
“President Biju Janata Dal Naveen Patnaik has accepted the resignation of Dr Sasmit Patra, MP, as leader of the BJD parliamentary party, Rajya Sabha, today,” according to an official party statement.
Patra, who had been the BJD’s parliamentary party leader since 2022, tendered his resignation on Wednesday. Patra had held the position after securing a second tenure in the Upper House.
Meanwhile, it is speculated that corporate honcho and Patnaik’s political secretary, Santrupt Misra, who was elected to the Upper House in the recently concluded Rajya Sabha polls, may replace Patra as the BJD parliamentary party leader.
Patra, an academic-turned-politician and a two-term Rajya Sabha MP from Odisha, has emerged as a prominent voice in Parliament on both national and regional matters. Serving as the BJD’s national spokesperson, he has been the party’s key representative in New Delhi and has articulated its position in the Upper House on several important legislative issues.
