Naveen Patnaik Condemns BJP MP's 1962 War Allegations on Father

Bhubaneswar, India - Biju Janata Dal president and Leader of Opposition in the Odisha Assembly, Naveen Patnaik, on Monday condemned BJP Member of Parliament Nishikant Dubey for alleging that his father, former Odisha Chief Minister Biju Patnaik, served as a link between Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, the United States government, and the Central Intelligence Agency during the 1962 Sino-Indian War. The remarks, made by Dubey on March 27, have ignited widespread protests from the BJD, including a parliamentary resignation and a walkout in the Rajya Sabha, as party leaders demand an apology for what they describe as baseless insults to a national icon.

Dubey, a BJP MP from Jharkhand, claimed during a public statement that Nehru conducted the war with American financial support and CIA collaboration. He specifically alleged that Biju Patnaik, who was Odisha's chief minister at the time, acted as an intermediary for sensitive defense communications with U.S. officials and helped establish the Charbatia air base in Odisha for U.S. U-2 spy planes, which operated there from 1963 to 1979. To support his assertions, Dubey referenced two letters from Nehru instructing officials and the...