Bhubaneswar, Mar 16 (PTI) Polling for four Rajya Sabha seats in Odisha is underway in the assembly complex on Monday, with the opposition BJD and Congress accusing the ruling BJP of indulging in “horse trading”.
As the voting commenced at 9 am, Health and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Mukesh Mahaling was first to cast his ballot, followed by Revenue Minister Suresh Pujari, who returned to Odisha after a treatment in Delhi.
Leader of Opposition and BJD president Naveen Patnaik also cast his vote while several MLAs were in the queue to exercise their franchise at the polling booth on the assembly premises.
Two candidates of the BJP are its state unit president Manmohan Samal, and sitting Rajya Sabha MP Sujeet Kumar. Former Union minister Dilip Ray is also contesting as an Independent and has the support of the saffron party.
The BJD nominees are party leader Santrupt Misra and eminent urologist Dr Datteswar Hota, whom the Congress and the CPI(M) are supporting.
There is a possibility of cross-voting as neither the ruling BJP nor the opposition BJD has the required numbers to win the fourth seat.
Suspended BJD MLA Sanatan Mahakud, who was asked by the party to vote for its candidates, said, “I have cast the ballot for the person who will work for the interest of the state.” In a letter, Opposition Chief Whip Pramila Mallik had on Sunday asked Mahakud to go by the party line even though he was suspended.
“The BJD suspended me without any valid reason and changed my seat in the assembly. They have also not contacted me,” Mahakud said while expressing his displeasure with the BJD leadership.
BJD MLA from Baliguda, Chakramani Kanhar, who was served a show cause notice by the party for violating the whip, also cast his vote, but did not reveal the reason for keeping distance from the party.
Meanwhile, the Congress MLAs, who were sent to Karnataka, returned to the state capital, and some of them have already cast their votes. Similarly, the BJP MLAs returned to Bhubaneswar from Paradip and were seen standing in the queue in the assembly.
CPI(M) MLA Laxman Munda said he has cast his vote in favour of Hota.
The voting for the RS polls is being held in the state after a gap of 12 years, as this time, five candidates are in the fray for the four seats which will fall vacant on April 2.
In the 147-member Odisha assembly, the BJP has 79 MLAs and the support of three Independents, while the BJD has 48 members after the suspension of two of its legislators on January 15. The Congress has 14 MLAs and one member of CPI(M).
According to the Rajya Sabha arithmetic in Odisha, one candidate requires 30 first preference votes to win a seat. As the BJP has the support of 82 members, it will have 22 surplus votes after electing its two candidates. Similarly, the BJD will have 18 surplus votes after electing its one candidate.
Patnaik, in a post on X, said, “Reports have emerged that four individuals were arrested in Bengaluru on allegations of attempting to give blank cheques to legislators to buy votes for BJP-supported Rajya Sabha candidates. I have been consistently stating over the past few days that the BJP has been engaged in horse-trading-like activities to lure legislators from other parties in Odisha to its side. This arrest in Bengaluru serves as strong evidence of that.” The people of Odisha are “watching everything and will certainly keep this in mind,” he said.
The election is being held as the tenures of four members – Niranjan Bishi and Munna Khan (BJD), and Sujeet Kumar and Mamata Mohanta (BJP) – expire on April 2. PTI AAM BDC BDC
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