BJP MP Nishikant Dubey Issues Apology Over Controversial Remarks on Biju Patnaik

Dubey's Apology Following Backlash

Nishikant Dubey, a Member of Parliament from the Bharatiya Janata Party, publicly apologized on Wednesday after facing backlash for his comments regarding former Odisha Chief Minister Biju Patnaik.

Dubey expressed on social media, “Biju Babu has always been and will remain a towering statesman for us. If my statement has hurt anyone’s sentiments, I unconditionally apologise.”

Earlier, on March 27, Dubey had claimed that Patnaik, who served as Odisha's chief minister during the 1962 Sino-Indian conflict, acted as a liaison between the U.S. government, the CIA, and then-Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

He further alleged that Patnaik facilitated the CIA's operation of U-2 reconnaissance flights from the Charbatia air base in Odisha, which he stated was used by U.S. military forces from 1963 to 1979.

His statements sparked widespread criticism from various political factions.

Naveen Patnaik, Biju Patnaik’s son and former chief minister of Odisha, remarked that Dubey required “mental health doctors’ attention” for his outrageous comments.

In response to the controversy, Biju Janata Dal MP Sasmit Patra resigned from the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology, which Dubey leads, as a form of protest.

Additionally, several MPs from the party staged a walkout in the Rajya Sabha on Monday in protest of Dubey's remarks.

Baijayant Panda, the BJP’s national vice president, labeled Dubey’s comments as “fantastical and patently ludicrous,” condemning the attacks on Patnaik as “unworthy, uninformed, and totally unacceptable.”

In his apology, Dubey clarified that his statements had been misinterpreted, particularly concerning Patnaik, asserting that his comments were intended as personal views on the Nehru-Gandhi family and that his thoughts on Nehru were misconstrued as being directed at Biju Patnaik.