Bhubaneswar, 15 March (H.S.) : The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has shifted its MLAs out of the state capital ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections scheduled to be held in Odisha on March 16.

According to party sources, as many as 77 BJP MLAs were moved to Paradip in Jagatsinghpur district after attending a training session related to the Rajya Sabha polls in Bhubaneswar on Saturday evening.

Sources said four MLAs—Kanhai Danga, Tankadhar Tripathy, Padmalochan Panda, and Himanshu Sekhar Sahoo—could not attend the training session due to personal reasons. They are expected to join the session on Sunday.

Meanwhile, KV Singh Deo, Deputy Chief Minister of Odisha, and state Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan will serve as the BJP’s agents during the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections, sources in the party’s Odisha unit said.

The BJP had issued a whip to its MLAs earlier, directing them to remain present in the Odisha Legislative Assembly on March 16 for the polls.

Earlier, the Opposition Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Indian National Congress also issued whips to their MLAs for the elections. Both parties directed their legislators to stay in the capital from March 13 to March 16 to ensure their presence during the voting process. There were also reports that the Congress has shifted at least nine of its MLAs to Bengaluru.

Notably, elections will be held for four Rajya Sabha seats from Odisha on March 16 as the terms of four sitting MPs—Niranjan Bishi, Munna Khan, Sujeet Kumar, and Mamata Mohanta—are set to end on April 2.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Monalisa Panda