BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) on Tuesday suspended three MLAs, Sofia Firdous, Ramesh Jena and Dasarathi Gomango, for cross-voting in the recent Rajya Sabha elections in favour of BJP-backed independent candidate Dilip Ray, defying the party’s whip.
The party is also considering approaching the Speaker to seek their disqualification under the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution for acting against party interests.
The Congress, which has 14 MLAs in the Assembly, had extended support to BJD’s second candidate, Dr Datteswar Hota. Despite having the numbers, cross-voting by 11 Opposition MLAs, including three from Congress, enabled Ray to win after the counting of second preference votes.
In the election, Ray secured 23 first preference votes, tying with Hota. He received 12 votes from BJP MLAs, three from Congress and eight from BJD legislators. In the second preference count, BJP’s numbers ensured his victory over Hota.
OPCC president Bhakta Charan Das, who was the party’s polling agent, had expressed dismay over the cross-voting and vowed action.