Even as sculptor Raghunath Mohapatra has claimed to have been assured support of six BJP MlAs along with a party-backed Independent MlA, the saffron party is yet to take a final decision to support him in the February 7 Rajya Sabha elections. BJP State president KV Singh Deo said Mohapatra is BJD president Naveen Patnaik's nominee though he has filed the nomination papers as an Independent candidate.
In fact, Mohapatra's candidature for the fourth and last RS seat from the State had been announced by Patnaik at the latter's residence Naveen Niwas without consulting the BJP or any other political party.
Patnaik did it despite knowing that the BJD alone cannot ensure victory of Mohapatra as the party has only 18 MlAs to support the Independent candidate who requires at least 30 votes. Besides the BJD's 18 MlAs, the CPI's lone MlA and Independent MlA Rajendra Sahu are certain to would support Mohapatra taking his vote tally to 20.
Therefore, the BJP's 6+1 votes are essential for Mohapatra to win. However, the BJP's not supporting Mohapatra would help Congress candidate Ranjib Biswal win the seat as the main Opposition party has 27 MlAs of its own plus the support of Independent MlA Braja Pradhan. So, Biswal's vote strength would stand at 28.
The BJD has launched a subtle campaign to force the BJP to support Mohapatra. Though Naveen Patnaik has been repeatedly denouncing the BJP as "communal", his party managers argue that if the BJP abstains or opposes Mohapatra, the Congress candidate would have a cakewalk. And this would go against BJP prime ministerial candidate Narenda Modi's slogan of a "Congress-Mukt Bharat". , "lord Jagannath will come to my rescue and ensure my victory as He had done for the Puri king in the war against the Kanchi kingdom."