BJP Lok Sabha MP Nishikant Dubey, who had landed in yet another controversy over his insinuations made about Odisha stalwart and former chief minister Biju Patnaik in remarks made over the Nehru-Gandhi family, “unconditionally apologised” on Wednesday.
He said his comments—his “personal views”—had been “incorrectly interpreted” as he went on to shower praises on late Biju Patnaik.
“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 Biju Patnaik, former Chief Minister and one of India’s leading leaders. First of all, this statement is my personal view. 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 apologise,” Dubey said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).
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 had come under severe fire from the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) following his remarks in which the BJP MP had claimed that Biju Patnaik was the link between former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and US spy arm the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
As a mark of protest, BJD MP Sasmit Patra had walked out of Rajya Sabha and resigned from the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and IT, chaired by Dubey.
Though Dubey came back to fire-fight, it was too late. In a scathing attack on Dubey, Patra said: “He has called Biju Patnaik a CIA agent. This is the level to which the ruling party has fallen… This is utterly shameful. Biju Janata Dal strongly opposes it and in protest, we are walking out.”
Even the soft-spoken BJD chief and Biju Patnaik’s son Naveen Patnaik took Dubey to task. “I think the BJP MP needs some mental doctor’s attention for saying these outrageous things,” Naveen Patnaik said.