Bhubaneswar, 05 March (H.S.): Nominees of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) — Manmohan Samal and Sujeet Kumar — along with senior politician Dilip Ray on Thursday filed their nomination papers for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in Odisha.
The nominations were submitted at the Odisha Legislative Assembly in the presence of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and senior BJP leaders, including Jayanarayan Mishra.
Dilip Ray filed his nomination as an independent candidate backed by the BJP to contest against Dr. Datteswar Hota, the candidate fielded by the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), for the crucial fourth Rajya Sabha seat. The elections are scheduled to be held on March 16.
Before filing his nomination, Ray paid tribute to his mentor and legendary leader Biju Patnaik on the occasion of the statesman’s birth anniversary. Expressing confidence about the contest, Ray stated that he expected to emerge victorious despite not having the required 30 first-preference votes. He recalled winning a Rajya Sabha seat in 2002 through cross-voting.
The BJP’s open support for Ray is widely seen as a strategic effort to secure three out of the four Rajya Sabha seats from Odisha. Currently, neither the BJP nor the BJD has sufficient numbers to independently win the fourth seat. Based on the present Assembly strength, the BJP is expected to win two seats comfortably, while the BJD is likely to secure one.
According to the Rajya Sabha electoral formula, a candidate needs at least 30 first-preference votes to win a seat from Odisha. With the backing of 82 MLAs, the BJP can comfortably secure two seats, leaving 22 surplus votes — eight short of the number required for a third seat. This makes the contest for the fourth seat a closely watched battle between Dilip Ray and Dr. Hota, with the Indian National Congress extending support to the BJD candidate.
Meanwhile, BJP’s first nominee and state president Manmohan Samal is set to enter the Upper House after a gap of 22 years. A former state minister, Samal had lost the 2024 Assembly elections but was re-elected unopposed in July 2025 as BJP state president for a fourth term. His leadership is credited with the party’s historic victory in the 2024 Odisha Assembly elections, ending the BJD’s 24-year rule, as well as the BJP’s success in the Nuapada by-polls last year.
The other BJP nominee, Sujeet Kumar, is a sitting Rajya Sabha MP whose tenure is set to end in April. Kumar joined the BJP in September 2025 and is seeking re-election to continue representing the state in the Upper House.
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Hindusthan Samachar / Monalisa Panda
