Bhubaneswar, June 22:Suspended Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MLA Arvind Mohapatra on Sunday termed the party's move to seek the disqualification of eight legislators over alleged cross-voting in the Rajya Sabha elections as a "foolish step", a day after Odisha Assembly Speaker Surama Padhy dismissed the petition.
Reacting to the Speaker's decision, Mohapatra said there is no legal provision that allows suspension or disqualification of MLAs merely for voting in favour of a different candidate during elections.
"There is no law for suspending or expelling MLAs who have voted for another candidate. Therefore, I believe it was a foolish step by the BJD. They have every democratic right to approach the High Court or the Supreme Court if they wish. I have no concerns about that. Instead, they should focus on strengthening their organisational capabilities. I think the BJD has some serious issues to address," Mohapatra told.
The controversy stems from the Rajya Sabha elections held on March 16, during which the BJD alleged that eight of its legislators cross-voted in favour of BJP-backed Independent candidate Dilip Ray. The party subsequently approached the Speaker seeking their disqualification.
However, Speaker Surama Padhy rejected the petition, dealing a setback to the regional party.
The Rajya Sabha election witnessed unexpected cross-voting by both BJD and Congress legislators. Although the Congress, which has 14 MLAs in the Odisha Assembly, had extended support to BJD nominee Datteswar Hota for the fourth Rajya Sabha seat, several legislators reportedly voted in favour of Dilip Ray.
As a result, Ray secured victory, while the opposition BJD managed to win only one seat. The BJP comfortably won two Rajya Sabha seats, with the third going to the Independent candidate backed by the ruling party.
Following the election outcome, the BJD on March 21 suspended six MLAs for alleged anti-party activities, including cross-voting. The party's Disciplinary Committee, after examining their responses to show-cause notices, concluded that the legislators had violated the core principles of the party constitution.
The suspended MLAs include Chakramani Kanhar (Baliguda), Naba Kishore Mallick (Jayadev), Souvic Biswal (Choudwar-Cuttack), Subasini Jena (Basta), Ramakanta Bhoi (Tirtol) and Devi Ranjan Tripathy (Banki).
Earlier in January, BJD president and former Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had suspended Arvind Mohapatra and Sanatan Mahakud from the party over alleged anti-party activities.
