Bhubaneswar: Ahead of the March 16 Rajya Sabha poll, Congress shifted nine of its 14 MLAs to Bengaluru and BJD lined up daily meetings of its legislators for three days from Friday to guard against possible horse trading. Both parties are backing independent candidate Datteswar Hota for one of the four seats in the state among 37 in the country.Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee president Bhakta Charan Das accompanied the MLAs to a resort at Bidai in Bengaluru South district. Congress Legislature Party leader Rama Chandra Kadam, who did not travel, confirmed the trip. “Nine MLAs went on a leisurely weekend trip while five of us are here. You know how BJP is openly trying to trade MLAs. But all our colleagues remain united,” said Kadam.Kadam said eight MLAs travelled to Bengaluru on Thursday evening, while Dasarathi Gomango left on Friday. Apart from Kadam, four other MLAs—Tara Prasad Bahinipati, Sagar Charan Das (who happens to be OPCC chief’s son), Sofia Firdous and Ramesh Jena—didn’t travel. “All of them are with us though they didn’t go for different reasons,” Kadam said.BJD president Naveen Patnaik asked party MLAs to attend mandatory evening “training sessions” at his residence for 3 days from Friday on Rajya Sabha election procedures, voting rules and the legislature party meeting. Both parties are working to keep their flocks intact to ensure the victory of their common candidate in the tight contest. With BJD’s 48 MLAs—excluding two suspended members—and Congress’ 14, they have two MLAs more than the 59 required to elect both BJD’s Santrupt Misra and independent Hota, a urologist. Lone CPM MLA Laxman Munda also pledged support.Their challenger is former Union minister Dilip Ray, who is contesting as an independent with BJP support. With 79 MLAs and backing from three independents, BJP will have 23 surplus first-preference votes for Ray, after securing required votes for its two official candidates, Manmohan Samal and Sujeet Kumar. The votes of the two suspended BJD MLAs (Sanatan Mahakud and Arvind Mohapatra) and any cross-voting could prove decisive. Ray earlier won as an independent in 2002 with cross-voting from BJP, Congress and BJD.Odisha Congress MLAs and party president Bhakta Charan Das met Karnataka deputy CM and state Congress chief DK Shivakumar in Bengaluru on Friday. “Their unity and determination show that no attempt can weaken the resolve of Congress leaders to stand together and protect democratic values,” Shivakumar shared in X.
