KV Singh Deo

Bhubaneswar, Jan. 29: The BJP state unit is in a dilemma on the issue of supporting ace sculptor Raghunath Mohapatra in the Rajya Sabha election.

While the central leadership appears to be in favour of supporting Mohapatra to keep Naveen Patnaik in good humour ahead of the general elections, the BJP MLAs have voiced their opposition to the move.

State BJP unit president K.V. Singh Deo said: “Mohapatra is a BJD-sponsored candidate. We will take a call on the issue at the legislature party meeting on February 2, one day ahead of the interim budget session.” The Rajya Sabha election will be held on February 7.

BJP legislature party leader Jaynarayan Mishra stirred the hornet’s nest by saying that the party MLAs will not vote for Mohapatra.

“We will maintain an equi-distance both from the Congress and the BJD. We will not vote for the BJD- sponsored candidate,” said Mishra.

The ruling BJD is all set to bag three of the four seats going to the polls. It has fielded former minister A.U. Singh Deo, parliamentary affairs minister Kalpataru Das and textile and handloom minister Sarojini Hembram. For the fourth seat, the party is backing Mohapatra and the Congress has fielded former cricketer Ranjib Biswal.

For Mohapatra, the support of six BJP MLAs and one associate BJP MLA is crucial.

BJP’s national general secretary Dharmendra Pradhan had hinted that the party was open for a discussion to support Mohapatra.

A BJP leader pointed out that if the party did not support Mohapatra, it would only help the Congress to bag the fourth seat.

“We are really in a piquant situation. Any wrong move at this point will cost the party dearly,” he said.

The state BJP leaders feel that the election has given an opportunity to break the popular perception that the BJD and the BJP had an underhand deal to support each other at the time of crisis. The mood in the rank and file of the party is that the BJP should abstain from voting.

Associate member of the BJP Pratap Sarangi, who is an MLA from Nilagiri, said: “There is very little chance for the party to support the BJD-sponsored candidate. Whatever the party decides, I will abide by it.”

The BJP has six members in the 147-member Assembly and enjoys the support of Sarangi. If all the seven members abstain from voting, Congress nominee Biswal will have a clear edge over Mohapatra. If BJP abstains, a candidate will need 28 first preference votes to make it to the Rajya Sabha.

The Congress having 27 MLAs and enjoying the support of two Independent MLAs, there is a possibility that Biswal will register an outright victory.

“If the BJD does not indulge in horse-trading by assuring tickets to some of our MLAs, Biswal’s victory is almost certain,” said a senior Congress leader.

Earlier in the 2010 Rajya Sabha election, the BJD had managed to win over three MLAs — two from the Congress and one from the BJP — to ensure the victory of its third candidate to the Rajya Sabha.

To keep its flock together, the Congress party today withdrew the suspension order of Sibaji Majhi who had abstained from voting in the 2010 Rajya Sabha election. “I had abstained from voting because of ill-health,” he said. Yesterday, the party had withdrawn the suspension order of Mamata Madhi.