RS poll: Naveen to pick BJD nominee; BJP eyes 3 seats

Bhubaneswar: With the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday issuing the notification for the March 16 Rajya Sabha election, political activity intensified in the state, where four seats will fall vacant.State BJP president Manmohan Samal said the party’s Parliamentary Board will shortly finalise its candidates. The BJD, meanwhile, authorised party president Naveen Patnaik to take the final call on its nominees and poll strategy. Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee chief Bhakta Charan Das said the Congress would decide its plan by Saturday.The BJP, which has 79 MLAs in the 147-member House and the support of 3 Independents, has the numbers to secure 2 seats.

The party, however, asserted it was confident of winning 3. “We forwarded names to the central leadership. The Parliamentary Board will take a decision soon,” Samal said. Apart from Samal—perceived as a contender—names doing the rounds include former state BJP chief Samir Mohanty, outgoing Rajya Sabha member Sujeet Kumar for re-nomination, and a few central leaders.The BJD’s Political Affairs Committee (PAC), the party’s top decision-making body, on Thursday empowered Naveen to select the candidate(s).

Earlier in the day, BJD Rajya Sabha MP Sasmit Patra collected 6 sets of nomination papers from the assembly secretariat on behalf of the party.Though multiple nomination sets may be filed for a single candidate, the BJD’s move raised eyebrows because each set of papers requires 10 MLAs as proposers, while the party has 50 MLAs, of whom 2 are suspended.After the 10-member PAC meeting chaired by Naveen, committee member and MLA Pramila Mallik said, “The PAC members left it to the former CM to take the final call.”Party insiders said the BJD is likely to field 1 candidate, as a win requires 30 first-preference votes, which the party comfortably has.According to senior BJD leaders, the frontrunner is Santrupt Misra, corporate-leader-turned-politician, Naveen Patnaik’s political secretary and the BJD’s national spokesperson. Misra, who unsuccessfully contested the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, is seen as close to Naveen and enjoys the trust of VK Pandian, sources said.Two other names under active consideration are former ministers Debi Prasad Mishra and Snehangini Chhuria. Mishra, a 6-time former MLA and senior BJD vice-president, is also a PAC member and considered one of Naveen’s trusted aides. Chhuria, who heads the BJD women’s wing and is a prominent face from western Odisha, lost the Nuapada bypoll but remains an influential organisational leader.State Congress chief Das, who earlier suggested a joint strategy with BJD, said the Congress will have a crucial role in the election.