BJD Suspends Six MLAs for Cross-Voting in Odisha Rajya Sabha Polls

In Bhubaneswar, the Biju Janata Dal suspended six of its legislators on Saturday for cross-voting in favor of a Bharatiya Janata Party-backed independent candidate during last week's Rajya Sabha elections in Odisha, a move that contributed to the defeat of the party's supported nominee.

The suspensions, announced after a meeting of the party's Political Affairs Committee chaired by BJD president Naveen Patnaik, targeted MLAs Chakramani Kanhar from Baliguda, Naba Kishore Mallick from Jayadev, Souvik Biswal from Choudwar-Cuttack, Subasini Jena from Basta, Ramakanta Bhoi from Tirtol, and Devi Ranjan Tripathy from Banki. An official order from Patnaik stated that the lawmakers engaged in antiparty activities by violating the party's directive to support a common opposition candidate, breaching the BJD constitution's emphasis on loyalty to collective decisions.

The action followed show-cause notices issued to the six MLAs on March 17, with their responses reviewed by the party's disciplinary committee on Friday. The committee, led by senior vice-president Debi Prasad Mishra, recommended suspensions, which the Political Affairs Committee endorsed with immediate effect. This brings the...