Odisha Congress suspends 3 MLAs for cross-voting; BJD calls PAC meet

Odisha Congress suspends three MLAs over cross-voting in Rajya Sabha polls, while BJD calls a PAC meeting amid political tensions and reported dissent within ranks

The Odisha unit of the Indian National Congress on Tuesday suspended three of its MLAs for defying the party whip and allegedly cross-voting in favour of BJP-backed Independent candidate Dilip Ray during the Rajya Sabha elections held on Monday.

 

The suspended leaders are Sanakhemundi MLA Ramesh Chandra Jena, Mohana MLA Dasarathi Gomango and Barabati-Cuttack MLA Sofia Firdous. The party accused them of violating its directive and supporting Ray, a move that ultimately helped him secure a crucial victory in the tightly contested polls.

 

Announcing the disciplinary action, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Bhakta Charan Das termed the act unexpected and a betrayal of party trust. He said the party would move to disqualify the three MLAs under the provisions of the Tenth Schedule of the Constitution, which deals with defection. “The national leadership has been informed. We will ensure that they are disqualified from the Assembly,” Das said.

 

 

Echoing the tough stance, OPCC’s media cell chairperson Arabinda Das said the decision was taken after a careful review of their conduct, which was found to be detrimental to the party’s interests. “Those who betray Congress are betraying the nation,” the party said in a strongly worded statement.

 

The Congress had backed noted urologist Dr Datteswar Hota as a “common candidate” in a strategic understanding with the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Left parties. However, the plan unravelled amid significant cross-voting.

 

Party leaders expressed disappointment with the suspended MLAs, citing their political standing within the organisation. Gomango had served twice as the party’s Gajapati district president, while Jena was considered a strong grassroots leader. Firdous, a first-time MLA, was seen as a promising face in Cuttack politics.

 

Leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) Rama Chandra Kadam has also written to Speaker Surama Padhy requesting disqualification of the three MLAs under the anti-defection law. “Their conduct has not only undermined party discipline but also goes against the democratic mandate under which they were elected,” Kadam said.

 

Constitution experts, however, said anti-defection provisions of the Tenth Schedule, with respect to voting against the instruction of the party, will not be applicable for Rajya Sabha elections. Political parties cannot issue any ‘whip’ to their members to vote for a particular candidate in such elections.

 

In a related development, the party also expelled Cuttack city Congress president Giribala Behera for alleged anti-party activities. Congress leaders admitted that the cross-voting episode has exposed internal fissures within the state unit.

 

Earlier, the party had shifted eight of its MLAs to Karnataka ahead of polling in an attempt to prevent defections and inducements. Despite this, the cross-voting incident has raised serious questions about the effectiveness of its strategy and internal cohesion.

 

The Rajya Sabha elections for four seats in Odisha witnessed dramatic developments, with cross-voting playing a decisive role. While the BJP officially had the numbers to win two seats, its candidates secured additional support from Opposition ranks.

 

Apart from the three Congress MLAs, at least eight legislators from the BJD also reportedly voted in favour of former Union minister Ray. Both Ray and Hota were tied with 23 first-preference votes each, but Ray eventually emerged victorious after the counting of second-preference votes.

 

The BJP won two seats, with its state president Manmohan Samal and MP Sujeet Kumar securing 35 votes each. The BJD’s Santrupt Misra won the third seat with 31 votes.

 

Meanwhile, BJD supremo and Leader of Opposition Naveen Patnaik has called a meeting of the party’s Political Affairs Committee (PAC), its highest decision-making body, to assess the situation. Senior leaders including Prasanna Acharya, Debi Prasad Mishra, Badri Narayan Patra, Ranendra Pratap Swain and Pratap Keshari Deb have been asked to attend for deliberations.

 

Among eight MLAs from the BJD who are reported to have cross-voted, Ramakant Bhoi from Tirtol, Devi Ranjan Tripathy from Banki and Subasini Jena from Basta had attended a breakfast meeting at Naveen Niwas hosted by Patnaik on the day of polling and publicly expressed loyalty to the leadership. The party had even released photographs of the meeting to project unity.

 

BJD leaders confirmed that Chakramani Kanhar from Baliguda, Souvic Biswal from Choudwar-Cuttack and Naba Kishor Mallick from Jayadev did not vote for the party-supported candidate. Additionally, suspended MLAs Sanatan Mahakud from Champua and Arvind Mohapatra from Patkura are also learnt to have voted for Ray.

 

Senior BJD leader Pratap Deb, who acted as the party’s counting agent, took a veiled swipe at the dissenters, remarking that some MLAs attended meetings only to silently vote against the party’s chosen candidate.

 

The party had conducted mandatory three-day preparatory sessions for its MLAs ahead of the polls to ensure cohesion. However, Kanhar and Mallick had skipped those meetings, showing early signs of dissent.