Won’t contest RS polls in Odisha: BJP
BHUBANESWAR: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Monday said it would not contest the Rajya Sabha (RS) polls in Odisha due to a lack of required number of members in the state legislative assembly (MLAs).
State BJP leader Prithwiraj Harichandan said the decision was taken as there was a possibility of the party’s candidate losing. “We have no stakes in this election. As we don’t have the numbers, there is a big possibility of our candidate losing. So we have decided to sit out,” Harichandan said. The BJP has 23 MLAs in the 147-member assembly.
The announcement has come two days after the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) announced the names of four of its candidates for the RS election scheduled to be held on March 26.
Earlier on Sunday, the president of the Odisha unit of the Congress, Niranjan Patnaik, had announced that the party’s MLAs in the assembly — the party has nine MLAs in the assembly -would participate in the polls. The Communist Party of India (CPI) hit out at the chief minister Naveen Patnaik-led BJD and the BJP after the latter’s announcement on Monday.
“Naveen Patnaik may have unilaterally announced all the four candidates, but he remains committed to his friendship with the BJP. He has all along supported the BJP. So any talk of him turning his back on the BJP is just an eyewash. Whenever the need arises, BJD MPs would support BJP in Parliament,” said Communist Party of India’s national council member, Ramakrushna Panda.
Political science professor in Ravenshaw University, Gyana Ranjan Swain, said the Biju Janata Dal (, by naming its four candidates, may be trying to dilute the impression that it was inching closer to the Bharatiya Janta Party.
“Though he has his compulsions of supporting the BJP in key bills in Parliament, the impression of being in league with the party is not a good thing for his own brand of politics. By getting all four candidates from his party, he sent signals that he alone would decide how the relationship develops.
For the BJP, keeping Patnaik in good humour is crucial as he has been supporting them on key junctures,” said Swain.
Of the four Rajya Sabha seats from Odisha, the term of three members is scheduled to end next month, while one seat has been lying vacant since last year.
STATE BJP LEADER SAID THE DECISION WAS TAKEN AS THERE WAS A POSSIBILITY OF THE PARTY’S CANDIDATE LOSING