Odisha speaker dismisses BJD plea to disqualify 8 MLAs for alleged cross-voting in Rajya Sabha polls

Odisha Assembly Speaker Surama Padhy has dismissed the Biju Janata Dal’s petition seeking the disqualification of eight of its MLAs for allegedly cross-voting during the Rajya Sabha elections in March, ANI reported on Monday.

The speaker said that the disqualification petition was “cryptic, vague, unsubstantiated” and did not fulfil the statutory requirements to go into its merits, Odisha TV quoted the order as saying.

On March 16, the BJD had alleged that the eight MLAs cross-voted in favour of independent candidate Dilip Ray, who was supported by the Bharatiya Janata Party in the polls to the Upper House of Parliament.

Four Rajya Sabha seats from Odisha were to fall vacant on April 2 and elections had been held on March 16 to fill them.

While two BJP candidates and one from the BJD were elected to the Rajya Sabha. The fourth candidate supported by BJD and the Congress lost to Ray after falling short by 11 votes. Of the eleven, eight were allegedly from the BJD and three from the Congress.

Earlier on the day of polling, BJD chief Naveen Patnaik had accused the BJP of “horse-trading”.

In April, the BJD urged the speaker to disqualify the eight legislators for “going against the party line”.

The Hindu had quoted Pramila Mallick, the party’s chief whip in the Assembly, as...

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