BHUBANESWAR: Ending speculation, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) on Saturday named party leader Santrupt Misra and noted urologist Dr Datteswar Hota as its candidates for the ensuing Rajya Sabha elections.
By fielding two candidates, the Opposition party has thrown a challenge to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the election to the Upper House of Parliament. There are four vacant Rajya Sabha seats from Odisha.
The announcement by the BJD also saw a twist, with the Congress coming out in support of Dr Hota’s candidature. Pradesh Congress chief Bhakta Charan Das claimed that he had spoken to BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik and discussed fielding a consensus candidate.
Misra, a corporate executive-turned-politician, joined the BJD ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and unsuccessfully contested from the Cuttack parliamentary seat. He was later appointed political secretary to BJD president and former chief minister Naveen Patnaik.
Dr Hota is a noted urologist who has previously served as principal of SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack and is the founding vice-chancellor of the Odisha University of Health Sciences.
Currently, the electoral arithmetic guarantees the BJP two seats and the BJD one. The ruling BJP, with 79 MLAs and the support of three Independent MLAs in the 147-member Assembly, can secure two seats outright while retaining a surplus of 22 votes.
The BJD, with 50 members, two of whom are suspended, can secure one Rajya Sabha seat and will have 18 surplus votes. The contest for the fourth seat is expected to be keen.
Naveen Patnaik, while announcing the names of Misra and Dr Hota, appealed to all parties to support Dr Hota and send him to the Rajya Sabha.
Speaking to the media, OPCC president Bhakta Charan Das said he had met Naveen Patnaik earlier this week and held detailed discussions on fielding a consensus candidate for the Rajya Sabha polls.
Elections to four Rajya Sabha seats from Odisha have been necessitated as the terms of BJP MPs Sujeet Kumar and Mamata Mohanta, and BJD MPs Niranjan Bishi and Muzibulla Khan alias Munna Khan, are coming to an end.