Horse trading: Naveen refers matter to EC

After facing a barrage of criticism over the issue of alleged horse trading in the last Rajya Sabha polls, the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government has referred the matter to the Election Commission.

“After being examined by the law and home departments of the state government, the matter related to the Rajya Sabha elections has been sent to the Election Commission for appropriate action,” chief minister and BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik told reporters here.

In the wake of mounting pressure from the opposition parties, the chief minister had recently asked the home department to probe the matter thoroughly.

Two ministers were allegedly involved in horse trading.

The opposition Congress had recently suspended Shibaji Majhi in this connection. Moreover, it had demanded a CBI probe and resignation of Patnaik as well as the two ministers allegedly involved.

Last year, the BJP had suspended Bhimsen Choudhury after the issue had surfaced.

The BJD had won all the three Rajya Sabha seats after two Congress MLAs — Shibaji Majhi and Gregory Minz — and BJP’s Bhimsen Choudhury had abstained from voting.