BHUBANESWAR: The BJD on Saturday suspended six MLAs for defying the party whip and cross-voting in favour of BJP-supported Independent candidate Dilip Ray in the recent Rajya Sabha election.
The decision was taken at the party’s Political Affairs Committee (PAC) meeting chaired by BJD president Naveen Patnaik. Senior leaders Debi Prasad Mishra, Pramila Mallick, Pranab Prakash Das, Sanjay Das Burma, Sudam Marndi and Tukuni Sahu were present.
The suspended MLAs are Chakramani Kanhar (Baliguda), Naba Kishore Mallick (Jayadev), Souvic Biswal (Choudwar-Cuttack), Subasini Jena (Basta), Ramakanta Bhoi (Tirtol) and Devi Ranjan Tripathy (Banki).
An office order issued by the party president said that they were found involved in “anti-party activities”, including cross-voting, in violation of the BJD’s core principle of adhering to collective decisions. The action follows a detailed review of replies submitted by the legislators to the show cause notices issued to them.
The BJD disciplinary committee headed by senior vice-president Debi Prasad Mishra had on Friday recommended strict action against the six MLAs after examining their responses. The PAC subsequently endorsed the recommendation, leading to their suspension with immediate effect.
The move comes against the backdrop of internal dissent within the regional party during the Rajya Sabha election, where Dilip Ray secured unexpected support and won the contest. Prior to the polls, the BJD had already suspended two MLAs - Sanatan Mahakud (Champua) and Arvind Mohapatra (Patkura) - for alleged anti-party activities. Both the suspended MLAs had also voted in favour of Ray.
Party sources indicated that the latest suspensions were on expected lines, as the leadership sought to send a strong message against indiscipline and curb any drift of legislators towards the ruling BJP.