Bhubaneswar, March 13: Amid the speculations of cross-voting in the biennial Rajya Sabha elections, two more Congress MLAs from Odisha reached the Wonderla resort near Bengaluru on Friday, taking the total number of legislators staying at the resort to eight.

Sources said around 20 rooms have been booked at the resort for the legislators, OPCC president and their personal staff and family members. Rooms are booked till the March 15.

Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar is expected to visit the resort later in the day.

The development comes amid speculation of cross-voting ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections. Earlier, six Odisha Congress MLAs, including chief whip CS Raazen Ekka, had reached Bengaluru along with their families.

In the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in Odisha, the Congress, along with the Biju Janata Dal and the Communist Party of India (Marxist), has decided to support a joint candidate, noted urologist Datteshwar Hota. Four Upper House seats from the state are set to fall vacant in April.

Famous hotelier and former Union Minister Dilip Ray is contesting against Hota as an Independent candidate with support from the BJP.

Given the strength of various parties in the State Assembly, the BJP has enough MLAs to secure at least two Rajya Sabha seats, while the BJD has the numbers for one seat. For the fourth seat, no party has clear numbers. Currently, the BJP and BJD hold two seats each.

In the 147-member Odisha Assembly, the ruling BJP has 79 MLAs and also enjoys the support of three Independent legislators. The BJD, the main opposition force, has dropped to 48 MLAs after recently suspending two legislators – Arvind Mohapatra and Sanatan Mahaud - for alleged anti-party activities.

As per the Election Commission’s formula for electing Rajya Sabha MPs, a candidate needs at least 30 first-preference valid votes to win each seat.