2 min readBhubaneswarMar 30, 2026 05:55 AM IST
BJD Rajya Sabha member Sasmit Patra has resigned from the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and IT headed by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey, opposing the latter’s “disrespectful remarks” about former Odisha chief minister Biju Patnaik.
In a letter dated March 28 to the Rajya Sabha Chairman, Patra said, “I cannot, in good conscience, continue to serve under someone who makes disrespectful remarks about Late Shri. Biju Patnaik ji … in a public statement.”
This came a day after Dubey, speaking to reporters in New Delhi, alleged that former PM Jawaharlal Nehru fought the 1962 war against China with American money and in collaboration with CIA agents and named Biju Patnaik, who was the then CM of Odisha, as a “link” between the US government, the CIA, and Nehru.
Dubey also alleged that Biju Patnaik, father of former CM and BJD chief Naveen Patnaik, was involved in helping CIA operate U2 planes – a high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft – at the Charbatia air base in Odisha. He also alleged that the air base housed the US military in India from 1963 to 1979.
Biju Patnaik served as the CM from June 1961 to October 1963 in his first stint.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Patra said Dubey’s remarks against Biju Patnaik were “outrageous, false and irresponsible”.
“Biju Patnaik is a towering freedom fighter, visionary leader and son of the soil whose contribution to the nation is beyond question. Such attempts to distort history and malign a revered leader for political narratives are unacceptable and condemnable,” said Patra, who is also the BJD’s leader in the Rajya Sabha.
