Bhubaneswar. Political turmoil has intensified regarding the elections to be held on four Rajya Sabha seats from Odisha. As soon as the notification was issued, Biju Janata Dal MP Sasmit Patra received six nomination forms at once, which has intensified speculation about the party’s strategy.
In fact, according to the figures of the 147-member assembly, BJD is considered certain to win one seat, while the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party is considered certain to win two seats. No party has the required 30 first preference votes for the fourth seat. The BJP has 79 MLAs and with the support of three independent MLAs, the total number becomes 82, eight short of the figure required to win the third seat.
At the same time, BJD is left with 48 MLAs after the suspension of two MLAs. After winning one seat, he will be left with 18 first preference votes, while to win the second seat he will need 12 more votes. Congress has 14 MLAs, while CPI-M has one MLA. Meanwhile, Congress has sought time to meet BJD chief Naveen Patnaik and expressed its desire to field a joint candidate for the fourth seat.
State Congress President Bhakta Charan Das said, ‘Despite the numerical strength being less, we will play an important role in the Rajya Sabha elections. I will go to Delhi and discuss with the high command and after that it will be decided whether the party will field its own candidate or support an outside candidate. On the other hand, BJD’s Political Affairs Committee has unanimously handed over the final authority to select candidates to Naveen Patnaik.
Opposition chief whip in the assembly Pramila Malik said that all the MLAs will vote as per the decision of the party president. The process of filing nominations for Rajya Sabha elections will continue till March 5. After this, scrutiny of nomination papers will take place on March 6, while March 9 has been fixed as the last date for withdrawal of nominations. Voting for Rajya Sabha elections will be held on March 16. These elections are being held because the tenure of BJD’s Niranjan Bishi and Munna Khan and BJP’s Sujit Kumar and Mamta Mohanta are ending in April.