Bhubaneswar, 16 March (H.S.): In a closely contested Rajya Sabha election marked by allegations of horse-trading and cross-voting, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won three out of the four seats from Odisha, while the opposition Biju Janata Dal (BJD) secured one seat.

Odisha BJP president Manmohan Samal and sitting MP Sujeet Kumar were declared winners on behalf of the BJP. The BJD’s Santrupt Misra also won a seat, while former Union Minister Dilip Ray, who contested as an Independent candidate with BJP support, secured victory as well.

The BJP-backed Ray and BJD’s Dr. Datteswar Hota, who was fielded as a common candidate with support from the Congress and the CPI(M), received 23 first-preference votes each, leading the contest to proceed to second-preference counting.

Ray’s victory marks a notable political comeback, reminiscent of his earlier success in 2002 when he won the Rajya Sabha seat as an Independent. Despite the BJP falling short of the numbers required for a straightforward win, Ray managed to secure support sufficient for his election.

The BJD, after winning one seat, had 18 surplus votes and had hoped to consolidate support for Hota with backing from 14 Congress MLAs and one CPI(M) MLA. However, the strategy did not succeed as 10 legislators—seven from the BJD and three from the Congress—reportedly cross-voted.

All 147 members of the Odisha Legislative Assembly participated in the voting process held on Monday,

---------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Monalisa Panda