3 min readBhubaneswarUpdated: Apr 9, 2026 01:22 PM IST
Senior Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader Sasmit Patra has stepped down as the party’s leader in the Rajya Sabha, party sources said.
Although the BJD is yet to confirm Patra’s resignation from the post, sources said he has sent his resignation to party president Naveen Patnaik, conveying his decision. The development comes days after Naveen Patnaik’s political secretary Santrupt Misra was elected to the Rajya Sabha.
BJD sources said Misra would replace Patra in the Upper House. Patra, a two-time member of the Rajya Sabha, has been heading the BJD parliamentary party since 2022, when he was elected to the Upper House for the second time.
BJD sources also said ‘dissatisfaction’ among a section of BJD MPs over his leadership is also cited as a reason behind his decision to step down. The BJD has six members in the Rajya Sabha.
A group of BJD MPs had openly criticised Patra for declaring the party’s changed stance on the Waqf Bill through an X post in April last year. While the regional party opposed the Bill in the Rajya Sabha during discussion, Patra took to X to declare that members were free to exercise their conscience during voting. Some Rajya Sabha members and senior BJD leaders demanded action against him.
Patra, 47, an academician-turned-politician and a two-time member of the Rajya Sabha from Odisha, is a strong voice in Parliament on national and state issues. As the national spokesperson of the BJD, he is known to be the party’s voice in New Delhi and has represented it in the Upper House on crucial issues, including key legislative matters.
Patra recently 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.
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An MBA and Ph.D. in Business Management, Patra served as dean and professor at Xavier Institute of Management (XIM) University, Bhubaneswar. Known to be an outspoken leader, he has been nominated to the panel of vice-chairpersons of the Rajya Sabha, represented India in the Inter-Parliamentary Union, and is a member of parliamentary friendship groups.
Sasmit could not be reached for comment on the issue.
