New Delhi: Days after his comments on former Odisha chief minister Biju Patnaik snowballed into a major political controversy with his own party leaders criticising his comments, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Nishikant Dubey Wednesday issued a public apology.
Terming the statement as his personal view, Dubey said his comments were misconstrued. His statement had sparked outrage with the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) staging a walkout from Rajya Sabha in protest. The BJD had also demanded an unconditional apology from Dubey.
Last week, Dubey had called the Nehru-Gandhi family the “brokers of America” in the 1960s, dragging the ‘Kalinga Putra’ into the controversy. “Biju Patnaik, the then chief minister of Odisha, was a link between the US government, the (US) Central Intelligence Agency, and Nehru. Even the officials were aware of this,” the BJP MP had said.
“Last week, while speaking to the media, an incorrect interpretation was drawn from my remarks regarding the Nehru-Gandhi family’s exploits, specifically in reference to the honorable Shri Biju Patnaik ji, a former Chief Minister and one of India’s leading leaders. First of all, this statement is my personal view,” Dubey posted on X.
“My thoughts on Nehru ji were misconstrued as being about Biju Babu. Biju Babu has always been and will remain a towering statesman for us. If my statement has hurt anyone’s sentiments, I unconditionally apologize,” he added.
पिछले हफ़्ते मीडिया से बात करते हुए मैने नेहरु गॉंधी परिवार के कारनामों के क्रम में पूर्व मुख्यमंत्री भारत के अग्रणी नेताओं में स्थान रखने वाले आदरणीय श्री बीजू पटनायक जी के संदर्भ में मेरी बातों से ग़लत अर्थ निकाला गया । पहले तो यह वक्तव्य मेरा व्यक्तिगत है। नेहरु जी के उपर मेरे…
— Dr Nishikant Dubey (@nishikant_dubey) April 1, 2026
Dubey comments were widely criticised including by his own party members including senior BJP leader Baijayant Panda who hails from the state. Panda described “Biju uncle” as a “towering personality, not just Odisha’s tallest leader of his era, but among the leading lights of the nation”, and said “casting aspersions on his patriotism is fantastical and patently ludicrous. Such attacks on him are unworthy, uninformed, and totally unacceptable.”
Sources said the central leadership was also unhappy with Dubey’s comments and there was pressure on him to issue a public apology. As the controversy refused to die, Dubey had Tuesday clarified that his remarks were a part of his series on the ‘Nehru-Gandhi family’, and added that Biju Patnaik was a “tall freedom fighter”.
“I repeat that I am releasing a series on the acts of the Nehru-Gandhi family. Tell me, which allegation did I level at Biju babu in my tweet?” he had remarked. However, the clarification failed to impress the BJD which continued its demand for a public apology.
The Odisha government Tuesday also strongly disapproved of Dubey’s statement while terming it “unacceptable” and “deeply hurtful”. Odisha Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan said Dubey’s comments were “entirely his personal opinion” and were not reflective of the Odisha government’s stance.
Following Dubey’s remarks, Rajya Sabha member Sasmit Patra had resigned from the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and IT headed by Dubey, opposing his “disrespectful remarks”. In a post on X, Patra explained that he was resigning “in protest and as a matter of principle”. He said: “I cannot, in good conscience, continue to serve under someone who makes such disrespectful remarks about a national icon.”
(Edited by Nardeep Singh Dahiya)
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