Odisha: BJD suspends 6 MLAs for cross-voting in RS polls

Vartha Bharati | 21-03-2026 | 19:43:00 IST

Courtesy: PTI

Bhubaneswar (PTI): The Biju Janata Dal on Saturday suspended six of its MLAs for cross-voting during the recent election to four Rajya Sabha seats from Odisha.

The suspended legislators were Chakramani Kanhar of Baliguda seat, Naba Kishor Mallick of Jayadev constituency, Souvic Biswal of Choudwar-Cuttack, Subasini Jena of Basta, Ramakanta Bhoi of Tirtol and Devi Ranjan Tripathy of Banki, an order by party chief Naveen Patnaik showed.

The suspension decision was taken at the opposition party's Political Affairs Committee (PAC) meeting presided over by Patnaik.

The six MLAs were issued a show-cause notice on March 17.

They submitted their replies on Friday evening, and those were found not satisfactory, said the BJD's chief whip in the Assembly, Pramila Mallik.

The ruling BJP won two of the four Rajya Sabha seats while the opposition BJD and a saffron party-backed Independent candidate bagged one seat each in the biennial polls held last Monday.

While the total number of BJP legislators and Independent MLAs supporting the ruling party was 82 in the 147-member House, the saffron party candidates secured 93 first preference votes, which was 11 more than its strength in the Assembly.

Of these 11 votes, eight were of BJD MLAs and three of Congress legislators, an official had said.

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Rahul Gandhi to launch Kerala poll campaign on Mar 25

21-03-2026 ¦ 21-03-2026 IST

Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. (PTI)

Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will kick off his election campaign for the upcoming Assembly polls in Kerala on March 25 with a major rally in Kozhikode.

The rally is scheduled to be held at Kozhikode beach in the evening, marking the beginning of his campaign tour in the state ahead of the April 9 elections, senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala said on Saturday.

Chennithala, who heads the election campaign committee, said Gandhi is expected to elaborate on key promises of the United Democratic Front (UDF), including the proposed "guarantee card".

Leaders from the national and state levels of the party are also expected to attend the event, he said in a statement.