Bhubaneswar: The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday issued a notification for the election to four Rajya Sabha seats from Odisha with polling scheduled for March 16.
The four seats in the Upper House from Odisha will fall vacant on April 2 following the completion of the tenure of Niranjan Bishi and Munna Khan of the BJD, and Sujeet Kumar and Mamata Mohanta of the BJP.
According to the notification, the last date for filing nominations is March 5, while scrutiny of the same will be taken up on March 6. Candidates will be allowed to withdraw their nominations till March 9. Polling will be held on March 16 from 9 am to 4 pm and counting of votes the same day at 5 pm.
The ECI stated that the entire election process will be completed by March 20.
This election forms part of a larger biennial exercise to fill 37 Rajya Sabha seats across 10 states, including Maharashtra (7 seats), Tamil Nadu (6), Bihar and West Bengal (5 each), Odisha (4), Assam (3), and two each from Telangana, Chhattisgarh, and Haryana, plus one from Himachal Pradesh.
THE RAJYA SABHA POLITICS
The ruling BJP in Odisha is poised to secure two seats in the upcoming elections, while the opposition BJD is set to claim one based on their respective strengths in the state Assembly following the 2024 elections. The real intrigue centres on the fourth seat with the first preference vote not in favour of any one single party, opening the door for strategic alliances, cross-voting, or independent support.
In the 147-member Odisha Legislative Assembly, the BJP ha
s 79 MLAs and the support of three Independents., giving it an effective strength of 82 votes. The BJD’s tally stands at 48 following the suspension of two of its legislators last month. The Congress has 14 MLAs, and the CPI(M) has one.
Under the single transferable vote system used for Rajya Sabha elections, a candidate typically requires around 30-32 first-preference votes to meet the quota (calculated as total valid votes divided by the number of vacancies plus one, plus one).
The BJP is comfortably positioned to win two seats. After securing those, it would have about 22 surplus votes, eight short of the threshold needed for a third seat on its own. The BJD, after electing one member, would be left with roughly 18 surplus votes. The Congress, with 14 MLAs, lacks sufficient strength to win a seat on its own, even if it secures the support of one CPI(M) member.
However, the Congress has announced to field a candidate for the upcoming polls despite lacking adequate numbers of MLAs, leading to speculation over a possible understanding between the grand old party and the BJD. The party’s Legislature Party leader Rama Chandra Kadam said that they have proposed that the BJD either field a candidate for the fourth seat with its support or back a Congress nominee to prevent the BJP from winning it.
Meanwhile, the core committee of the state unit of the BJP met here on February 22 to shortlist possible candidates for the biennial Rajya Sabha election. The meeting assumed significance as Union Education minister Dharmendra Pradhan attended the deliberations after staying away from previous core committee meetings.
Earlier, a high-profile meeting between senior BJP leader and former Union Minister Dilip Ray and state Law Minister Prithviraj Harichandan had also fuelled intense chatter about the former’s possible nomination.