BHUBANESWAR: The political sparring between the BJD and BJP over the forthcoming Rajya Sabha elections in Odisha intensified on Saturday with the regional outfit alleging that the ruling party was encouraging horse-trading by backing former Union minister Dilip Ray despite lacking the required numbers.
Former minister and BJD MLA Arun Sahoo told mediapersons that Ray filing his nomination as an Independent candidate and the BJP extending support to him without having the numbers posed a threat to democratic values. Recalling the 2002 RS election, when Ray won after more than a dozen MLAs cross-voted in his favour, Sahoo alleged that BJP was trying to engineer a similar outcome in the ensuing poll. The BJP currently has 82 votes, including 79 MLAs and support of three Independent legislators. After victory of its two official candidates Manmohan Samal and Sujeet Kumar, it is expected to have 22 surplus votes.
Sahoo alleged that by supporting Ray under such circumstances and asserting that he would win, BJP is taking a path which does not conform to its stated policy of transparency in political dealings. He, however, expressed confidence that the BJP would not succeed in its plans and BJD’s second candidate Dr Datteswar Hota would secure victory.
FS&CW minister Krushna Chandra Patra dismissed Sahoo’s allegations of horse-trading and said Ray has support of BJD MLAs who are staunch followers of former CM Biju Patnaik’s ideology. “The BJD is now divided into two factions, one that adheres to the ideology of Biju Babu and the other that does not. Legislators with Biju Patnaik’s ideology would vote for Ray. He will win comfortably,” Patra asserted.
The BJD, which has a strength of 50 in the Assembly including two expelled MLAs, will have 18 surplus votes after the expected victory of its first candidate Santrupt Misra. Its second candidate Dr Hota, can secure victory with support of 14 Congress MLAs and one CPI(M) legislator, provided there is no cross-voting.