BHUBANESWAR: Nomination papers of all the five candidates for the ensuing Rajya Sabha elections were accepted after scrutiny on Friday, setting the stage for a high stakes contest.
The ruling BJP has fielded its state president Manmohan Samal and outgoing MP Sujeet Kumar. The party has also extended support to former union minister Dilip Ray who filed nomination papers as an Independent candidate.
On its part, BJD’s first candidate is Santrupt Misra, senior leader and political secretary to leader of the Opposition Naveen Patnaik. The regional outfit has fielded Dr Datteswar Hota as its second nominee. Dr Hota is also supported by the Congress and the CPM.
With the scrutiny complete, race for the fourth seat is going to be intensely competitive, likely to be decided between Dr Hota and Ray. Political observers suggest that cross-party alliances and strategic voting could decide the contest. All eyes will now be on March 16 to see whether the BJP’s tactical move to back an Independent candidate pays off or if the BJD-Congress combination retains the crucial fourth seat.
Ray expressed confidence of receiving what he called conscience votes. After receiving 22 surplus votes from BJP, the former union minister will require eight votes to win the seat.
Ray recalled his 2002 election campaign. “Back then, I actively engaged in two months of ground-level work which laid the foundation for my support base,” he said and called for conscience votes this time in his support.
Meanwhile, deputy leader of the Opposition and senior BJD leader Prasanna Acharya has said one Rajya Sabha election will not decide the future of Odisha politics or political alignments in the state.
BJD candidate Misra also made it clear that the BJD’s understanding with the Congress is a temporary one. “Congress alone cannot send a candidate to the Rajya Sabha. Therefore, they have extended support to former chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s candidate,” he said.