The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday named Odisha unit president Manmohan Samal and incumbent MP Sujit Kumar as candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections scheduled on March 16.
Samal, who was re-elected unopposed for a fourth term as state unit president in July, is widely credited with building the party’s grassroots machinery that contributed to the party’s victory in the 2024 Assembly elections, ending the 24-year rule of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD). But Samal, a former state minister, lost his seat in the elections.
Kumar was first elected to the Rajya Sabha on a BJP ticket in April 2020 before joining the BJP in September 2024 – a move that prompted BJP chief Naveen Patnaik to expel the politician from Odisha’s western district of Kalahandi on charges of anti-party activities.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, which has 79 legislators in the 147-member assembly, has the support of three independent legislators. When there are 30 preferred votes required for each candidate, a party can comfortably elect its own candidates and still have 22 surplus votes.
Hotelier and former union minister Dilip Rai, who unsuccessfully contested the Odisha elections on a BJP ticket from Rourkela, said on Tuesday that he will also contest the Rajya Sabha elections as an independent with the support of the BJP.
The BJP would need at least eight multiple acolytes from the opposition to cross while voting for Dilip Rai to stand a good chance, people familiar with the matter said.
The Biju Janata Dal (BJD), which has 50 legislators, has 20 surplus votes after ensuring the election of one candidate. The Odisha Congress along with the CPI(M) legislator has 15 other legislators. Thus, the three opposition parties combined have 35 votes, more than the 30-vote threshold needed for their joint candidate, urologist Dhatwar Hota.
But the opposition will have to ensure that its legislators support the BJP’s second-place candidate, and not switch sides.
The deadline for submitting nominations is March 5, and nominations can be withdrawn until March 9.
