New Delhi/Bhubaneswar: Three newly-elected Rajy Sabha members from Odisha on Monday took their oath of office and secrecy in their mother tongue, Odia, marking a proud moment for the state’s linguistic and cultural identity in the Upper House of Parliament.
Vice President and Rajya Sabha Chairman C P Radhakrishnan administered the oaths to Manmohan Samal, the BJP’s Odisha state unit president; Dilip Ray, a BJP-supported Independent candidate and former Union minister; and Santrupt Misra from the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), in the Parliament House chamber.
The fourth elected member from Odisha, Sujeet Kumar of the BJP, was not present for the oath-taking. He is said to be busy with campaigning for Assam Assembly elections and is likely to take oath on April 16, sources said.
The biennial Rajya Sabha elections for the four seats were held on March 16, 2026. Samal and Sujeet Kumar were official candidates of BJP, while Ray secured victory as an Independent backed by the BJP, benefiting from cross-voting in a competitive race against a BJD-Congress-CPI(M) supported candidate. Santrupt Misra won the remaining one seat for the BJD.
While Samal previously served in the Rajya Sabha from 2000 to 2004, Ray was nominated to the Upper House in 1996 and served two consecutive terms (1996–2002, 2002–2008). This is also the second consecutive term for Sujeet Kumar, who was initially elected in 2020 on BJD ticket and was renominated for the by-election to the same seat after switching sides to BJP,
A total of 19 leaders, including Nationalist Congress Party (Sharad Chandra Pawar) chief Sharad Pawar, Union Minister Ramdas Athawale, DMK’s Tiruchi Siva, DMK’s Constandine Ravindran, DMDL’s LK Sudhish and Congress’ Christopher Manickam, took oath. The incumbent Chief Minister and Janata Dal (United) chief Nitish Kumar is set to formally take the oath as a Rajya Sabha member on April 10.
