Vice-Presidential Election 2017: BJD to support Opposition candidate Gopalkrishna Gandhi

Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister of Odisha Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday announced his party’s support to Gopalkrishna Gandhi, the Opposition’s candidate for the vice-presidential election. [caption id=“attachment_3799791” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Gopalkrishna Gandhi. AFP[/caption] The regional party had supported NDA candidate Ram Nath Kovind in the presidential election, polling for which was held on Monday. However, Patnaik preferred to go with opposition parties this time. “The Biju Janata Dal will support Sri Gopalkrishna Gandhi,” the BJD president told reporters in Bhubaneshwar. BJD parliamentary party spokesman Kalikesh Singhdeo said, “Patnaik has proved that the BJD has been maintaining equal distance from the Congress and the BJP”. Patnaik had in 2012 said Gandhi was an “old and valued friend. We were friends even when I was not in politics”.