Bhubaneswar: In a swift disciplinary action, the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) on Tuesday suspended three of its MLAs — Sofia Firdous, Ramesh Jena, and Dasarathi Gomango — for cross-voting in the recent Rajya Sabha elections, defying the party’s official whip.
The suspensions follow a dramatic turn in the March 16 Rajya Sabha polls in Odisha, where the Opposition alliance between the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Congress failed to secure the fourth seat due to significant cross-voting. The BJP-backed independent candidate Dilip Ray emerged victorious, aided by preferences from at least 11 opposition MLAs — including six BJD members, two suspended BJD MLAs, and the three Congress legislators.
Congress and BJD had fielded a joint candidate, Datteswar Hota, in a strategic alliance aimed at countering the BJP’s push for additional representation in the Upper House. With the BJD holding around 48 MLAs (excluding the suspended members) and Congress 14, the combine was positioned to win two seats comfortably. However, widespread defections handed the BJP an unexpected fourth seat.
Sofia Firdous (Barabati-Cuttack), Ramesh Jena (Sanakhemundi), and Dasarathi Gomango (Mohana) reportedly voted in favour of Ray, prompting immediate backlash from the party leadership.
OPCC president Bhakta Charan Das, who served as the Congress counting agent, publicly condemned the trio. He said the AICC has been informed about cross-voting by the three MLAs while describing them as having been “sold like goats and sheep.”
Das further stated that Gomango was made Gajapati district president twice and was also given a ticket to contest the Assembly polls. “The party did not accept this from him. Jena was a strong leader, he destroyed himself. Sofia Firdous had a very bright future. She has ended her chances of winning from Cuttack in the future. We will go ahead with the disqualification process,” he told the media at the conclusion of the election.
Earlier, the official Odisha Congress social media handle labeled the defectors “traitors,” posting: “Opponents fight you from the outside; traitors weaken you from the inside.”
Incidentally, the Congress had flown eight Congress MLAs to Bengaluru ahead of polling to prevent poaching or inducements. Gomango had then gone incommunicado. Sofia had also criticised party leadership for extending support to BJD’s common candidate without consulting the MLAs.
The cross-voting later exposed vulnerabilities in the BJD-Congress tie-up formed to consolidate anti-BJP votes in the state, despite the precautionary measures.
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The BJP, meanwhile, secured three seats — including Dilip Ray’s win — alongside the BJD’s one. No immediate response has been reported from the suspended MLAs regarding the disciplinary measure.
