With four Rajya Sabha members from Odisha retiring on April 2 next on completion of their terms, major political parties have begun the exercise to optimise their positions in the Upper House of Parliament. The current fourteenth Odisha Assembly will elect four new members before the 2014 General Elections, either in the third or last week of March.
The Election Commission of India has already begun the process for the purpose. The commission has written to the State Assembly Secretariat to send a list of names for appointment of Returning and Presiding Officers. It has also directed the authorities to start preparations for the elections, said official sources. The State’s four Rajya Sabha members, whose terms will end on April 2, are Ramachandra Khuntia (Congress), Mangla Kissan and Renubala Pradhan (BJD) and Balbir Punj (BJP).
Given the respective strengths of political parties in the Assembly, the BJD is certain to win three seats. The fight will essentially be for the fourth seat, for which the major opposition party Congress does not have the required number of MlAs. So, hard bargaining and horse-trading cannot be ruled out, say analysts.
The BJD has 108 MlAs, the Congress 27, the BJP six and the CPI one while there are seven Independent members. A candidate requires the first choice vote of 30 MlAs or, in other words, the support of 30 MlAs to win.
The BJD can easily send three members to the Rajya Sabha by exercising their first choice votes without any hassles. For the fourth seat, the party has 18 first choice votes and rest second choice votes, making it difficult for the party to secure it.
The Congress needs support of three more MlAs to win the fourth seat. The party would obviously seek support of Independents to win the seat. With many Congress leaders reportedly waiting to cross over to the BJD ahead of the general elections, there is no guarantee that the Congress would get the seat, say political circles.