CM meets BJP MLAs at independent candidate’s Paradip resort on Rajya Sabha poll eve

Kendrapada: Thepolitical flutter ahead of Rajya Sabha polls on Monday has shifted from state capital Bhubaneswar to Paradip in Jagatsinghpur district after the BJP transported all its MLAs as well as the three independents, who support the ruling party, to a luxury hotel, owned by independent candidate Dilip Ray, in the port town on Saturday night.

CM Mohan Charan Majhi, who was in the town, also joined them for three hours on Sunday before returning to Bhubaneswar.Ray, who has entered the Rajya Sabha election as an independent candidate, backed by the BJP, needs 30 votes for his victory.The BJP said that the MLAs were in Paradip to receive proper training on casting their votes in the Rajya Sabha elections, even as many political observers feel that this strategic “resort politics” is aimed at preventing poaching and ensuring party unity to avoid cross-voting.

Meanwhile, the resort has turned into a fortress, with many armed security personnel standing guard outside, while entry of common people has almost been barred for now.Security has been tightened in Paradip after the arrival of the MLAs and CM. “Four platoons of police have been deployed in Paradip, with continuous patrolling in the port town and its nearby areas. All vehicles passing through Paradip area are being checked,” said additional superintendent of police, Jagatsinghpur, Smurti Ranjan Kar.

Ganeswar Behera, a senior BJD functionary, alleged Ray, in a clear nexus with the BJP is indulging in horse-trading. The BJP locked up its MLAs in a hotel of Ray over fears of cross-voting as many of them are not in a mood to vote for Ray, added the former MLA of Kendrapada.Ray, a former Union minister of state for coal, along with three other individuals, was convicted of irregularities in the allocation of the Brahmadiha coal block in Jharkhand in 1999 by a special CBI court, which sentenced them to three years of jail term on Oct 6, 2020.Delhi high court, however, stayed the conviction of Ray ahead of the 2024 assembly polls. Ray then unsuccessfully contested from Rourkela assembly seat as a BJP candidate.Ray was earlier elected to the Rajya Sabha in 1996 and continued to be its member for two consecutive terms.The Odisha assembly has a total strength of 147 members. The BJP has 79 MLAs and the support of the three independents, totalling 82, which is eight short of the number required for electing three MPs. The BJD has 48 MLAs after two of its members, Arvind Mohapatra and Sanatan Mahakud were suspended last month over alleged anti-party activities. The Congress has 14 MLAs and CPI(M) has one.