Bhubaneswar: With the Rajya Sabha polls just days away on March 16, the Opposition parties in Odisha are vigilant, deploying all measures to thwart any attempts at horse-trading or cross-voting.
While the Congress flew its MLAs to Bengaluru, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) president and former Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has issued a directive making attendance compulsory at three consecutive evening preparatory sessions at his residence in Bhubaneswar.
According to sources, the sessions to be chaired by Naveen are designed to brief MLAs on the voting process, reinforce party coordination, and eliminate any risk of cross-voting in the high-stakes biennial polls for four Odisha seats in the Upper House.
The mandatory evening meetings are scheduled as follows:
March 13, 2026 (Friday): 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM — Presentation on the Rajya Sabha election procedure.
March 14, 2026 (Saturday): 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM — Training program for BJD MLAs on voting rules and procedures.
March 15, 2026 (Sunday): 5:30 PM – 7:30 PM — Meeting of the BJD Legislature Party.
An official communication from the party has emphasised that attendance is non-negotiable and should be treated as a “priority”.
The directive came a day after the BJD whip issued a three-line whip on March 11, asking all MLAs to remain present in Bhubaneswar from March 13 to March 16 and to participate in voting between 9 am and 4 pm on the day of polling.
The Rajya Sabha contest in Odisha remains intense, with five candidates in the fray for the four seats. The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), holding 79 MLAs plus support from independents (totaling around 82 votes), is positioned to comfortably secure two seats and is eyeing a third. The opposition BJD, with 48 MLAs following recent suspensions, is assured of one seat but has fielded two nominees: senior leader Santrupt Misra and Dr Datteswar Hota, the latter positioned as a “common candidate” backed by the Congress, which has 14 MLAs, in an unprecedented understanding to contest the fourth seat and potentially block a BJP sweep.