In a significant shift in Odisha’s political landscape, the ruling BJP secured two of the four Rajya Sabha seats on Monday, March 16, 2026. The opposition BJD and a BJP-backed Independent candidate captured one seat each in a biennial election marked by dramatic cross-voting and a high-stakes second-preference count in Bhubaneswar.
Returning Officer and Odisha Assembly Secretary Satyabrata Rout handed over the winning certificates to the four newly elected members following the conclusion of the Rajya Sabha polls.
BJP’s Odisha unit president Manmohan Samal and sitting MP Sujeet Kumar both secured 35 votes each to win the elections. Their win underscores the saffron party’s growing dominance in the state assembly.
Meanwhile, the BJD’s official nominee, entrepreneur-turned-politician Santrupt Misra, successfully secured his seat by garnering 31 votes, providing a silver lining for the opposition.
The battle for the fourth seat provided the day’s most intense drama, as BJP-backed Independent candidate and former Union Minister Dilip Ray emerged victorious through second-preference votes. Ray faced off against opposition-backed nominee Datteswar Hota, who had the combined support of the BJD, Congress, and CPI(M).
After both candidates were deadlocked with 23 first-preference votes each, the second-preference tally ultimately tipped the scales in Ray’s favour, an official said.
The elections saw a 100 per cent turnout, with all 147 members of the Odisha Assembly exercising their franchise. However, the integrity of party lines crumbled as several opposition MLAs allegedly crossed over to support BJP candidates and the Independent nominee. This internal friction highlights a brewing shift in allegiances within the state’s legislative body.
While the BJP and its allied Independents held a combined strength of 82 in the 147-member House, the saffron party’s candidates amassed 93 first-preference votes—11 more than their official tally. These 11 votes came from BJD (8) and Congress (3) MLAs, the official said.
The arithmetic of the 147-member House currently places the BJP at 79 MLAs (plus three Independents), while the BJD stands at 48 legislators following the suspension of two members. The Congress holds 14 seats, and the CPI(M) maintains a single representative. The discrepancy in the voting patterns has sparked immediate internal investigations within the opposition camps.
BJD MLA and Opposition Deputy Chief Whip P K Deb confirmed the rebellion, claiming that eight of his party’s legislators cross-voted for the BJP-supported camp. He specifically identified the defecting MLAs as Chandramani Kanhar (Baliguda), Subasini Jena (Basta), Souvic Biswal (Chuodwar-Cuttack), Naba Kishor Mallick (Jaydev), Ramakanta Bhoi (Tirtol), and Devi Ranjan Tripathy (Banki).
The Congress party faced similar desertions, with OPCC President Bhakta Charan Das admitting that three of his MLAs violated party norms. Das named Ramesh Jena, Dasarathi Gomango, and Sofia Fordous as the members who voted against the party’s collective decision in favour of the BJP-backed candidates.
“Three of our MLAs – Ramesh Jena, Dasarathi Gomango and Sofia Fordous – voted against the party decision,” Das claimed.
The 2026 results mirrored the historic 2002 Rajya Sabha polls, where Dilip Ray had similarly won as an Independent amid widespread cross-voting. Ray, a veteran of Odisha politics and a former Union Minister under three Prime Ministers, returns to the Upper House as a seasoned political survivor who once served as the state’s Industries Minister in the early 90s.
The election also marked a triumphant return for Manmohan Samal, who re-entered the Rajya Sabha after a 22-year hiatus. Having previously served from 2000 to 2004, Samal’s victory is particularly significant as it follows his loss in the 2024 Assembly elections from the Chandbali constituency.
Sujeet Kumar’s re-election ensures continuity for the BJP in the Upper House. Kumar, whose current term was set to expire on April 2, had defected from the BJD to the BJP in September 2024. His renomination and subsequent win validate his strategic move to the saffron fold.
Similarly, the BJD’s Santrupt Misra enters the Rajya Sabha as a fresh face in the national legislature. An entrepreneur who joined the BJD before the 2024 general elections, Misra’s victory offers him a second chance at legislative impact after an unsuccessful bid for the Cuttack Lok Sabha seat in 2024.
