New Delhi: As the tenure of three Rajya Sabha MPs from Odisha is coming to an end, April 2, debates can be heard on whether the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) would be able to win all four vacant seats or the party would offer seats to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), yet again.
As per the arithmetic, the BJD can sweep three seats easily but have to take support of around 7 MLAs for the fourth candidate. Of the 147 seats, BJD has 113 MLAs in the State Assembly while the BJP has 23 MLAs and Congress has nine.
Members of a state’s Legislative Assembly vote in the Rajya Sabha elections in proportional representation with the single transferable vote system. The MLAs don’t vote for each seat. According to this system, a candidate requires support of around 30 MLAs for his election to the Rajya Sabha from the state.
With 113 MLAs, the ruling party can send three candidates to the Upper House easily but needs support of other parties for the fourth candidate.
If sources are to be believed, the BJP has been demanding two Rajya Sabha seats from Odisha. The saffron party has been seeking BJD’s support to send either two or at-least one candidate to the Upper House from Odisha.
Earlier too, the ruling party of the state had supported BJP candidate Ashwani Vaishnav for his election to the Rajya Sabha. The BJD has been urging the saffron party for establishment of Legislative Council in the state and it had supported the BJP candidate expecting positive move from Union government for establishment of Legislative Council in the state.
However, the party MPs had met Union Home Minister Amit Shah but they had not received a concurrent response from the minister. The BJD has been seen as a crucial supporter of BJP in the Rajya Sabha and has helped the Centre in passing of vital bills.
Kuldeep Singh, OP
