Bhubaneswar: All eyes were on ‘disgruntled’ MLAs of Opposition BJD and Congress as voting commenced for four Rajya Sabha seats in Odisha on Monday.
The state is witnessing voting for Rajya Sabha elections after a gap of 12 years with five candidates in the fray for four seats, which has led to fears of cross-voting and horse-trading.
Congress MLA from Mohana Dasarathi Gomago, who went incommunicado after being asked to travel to Bengaluru where the party had moved eight of its 14 MLAs, surprised all by announcing that he voted in accordance with the directive issued by state unit president Bhakta Das. “I am very much with the Congress and voted as asked by the party chief,” he told reporters after casting his vote in the Odisha Legislative Assembly.
Gomago further stated that there was no reason for him to travel to Bengaluru. “I live in a hilltop village with no mobile network, so my leaders were unable to get in touch with me,” he added.
However, Das later confirmed that Gomago has cross voted.
On Sunday, Odisha Congress issued a show-cause notice to the Mohana MLA when he did not respond to repeated phone calls from Das, Congress legislature party (CLP) leader Ramachandra Kadam and other leaders. He was asked to report by 9 am on Monday. Gomango was also cautioned that he could face disqualification from his Assembly membership if he fails to report to the Congress headquarters and comply with the party’s decision to support Dr Datteswar Hota’s candidature.
In his response to the show-cause notice, Gomago had earlier asserted that he would vote according to his conscience. He stated a party whip does not apply during Rajya Sabha elections. He further argued voting for a candidate other than the one supported by the party cannot be treated as indiscipline while citing the Supreme Court judgment in the Kuldeep Nayar vs Government of India case and a directive issued by the Election Commission in 2017. He further claimed that Congress MLAs were not consulted before the decision to extend support to Hota was taken.
However, Congress’ problems did not end here. If sources are to be believed, Barabati-Cuttack MLA Sofia Firdous, who had publicly targeted the state leadership for supporting a candidate announced by the BJD, also defied the party whip in the elections and so also Sanakhemundi MLA Ramesh Chandra Jena.
Sofia and Jena had earlier skipped a key CLP meeting, where the decision to support the candidature of Dr Hota was taken.
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In the 147-Assembly, the BJP holds a commanding position with 82 votes (79 MLAs plus three supporting independents) and is poised to comfortably claim two seats. The BJD, with its 48 MLAs, can comfortably secure victory for its primary candidate Santrupt Misra through at least 30 first-preference votes. The outcome for the fourth of four seats hangs in the balance and has turned into a major prestige showdown between the opposition’s joint candidate, Dr Datteswar Hota, and the BJP-backed independent, Dilip Ray. Hota’s chances depend on securing the backing of the 14 Congress MLAs, the lone CPI(M) legislator, and the remaining BJD MLAs, provided no defections occur.
Also Read: BJD’s Show Of Unit Ahead Of Rajya Sabha Polling For 4 Seats From Odisha
Sources further stated that BJD MLA Souvic Biswal has also cross voted. His father and former MLA Pravat Ranjan Biswal was expelled from the BJD last month for openly criticising the party leadership over the nomination of Santrupt Misra. If BJD MLAs Chakramani Kanhar (Baliguda) and Naba Kishore Mallick (Jayadev), who were earlier issued show-cause for not attending party meeting at Naveen Niwas, cast their votes without showing the ballot to the authorised agent, it will be considered invalid and not counted, the sources added.
