Bhubaneswar, 16/3: In a major development, a clash broke out between MLAs of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and the BJP in Bhubaneswar during voting for the Rajya Sabha elections in Odisha on Monday, adding to tensions over allegations of cross-voting.
Amid the controversy, BJD leader Devi Ranjan Tripathy denied that his vote amounted to cross-voting, saying he cast his ballot to “strengthen the BJD and the ideology on which the party was formed”. “I voted for Dilip Babu, who comes from the Biju legacy. This party is not a private limited of Naveen Babu; it belongs to lakhs of workers of Odisha who have given their sweat and blood,” he said, adding that he is a strong opponent of the Congress.
Meanwhile, Odisha Congress president Bhakta Charan Das alleged that three Congress MLAs — Ramesh Jena from Sanakhemundi in Ganjam, Dasarathi Gomango from Mohana in Gajapati, and Sofia Firdous from Cuttack — had cross-voted in the Rajya Sabha election. Saying the party did not expect such a move, Das added that disciplinary action, including disqualification proceedings, would be initiated against them.
