- By Shubham Bajpai
- Mon, 16 Mar 2026 05:05 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
The elections for 11 Rajya Sabha seats in 7 states are taking place and the biggest upheaval has been witnessed in Odisha, where four seats are up for grabs. The voting was suspended temporarily after allegations of the issuance of a second ballot to a BJP MP triggered a row.
Biju Janata Dal (BJD) chief and LoP in the Odisha Assembly, Naveen Patnaik, on Monday, alleged violation of election norms, saying that a legislator was issued a second ballot paper. He didn't name the MLA but said 'MLA from the Brahmagiri Assembly constituency' had made an error while casting her vote.
Patnaik added that the polling officer accepted the vote despite the mistake and subsequently issued a second ballot paper. Patnaik cited rules to call it unlawful.
The Brahmagiri Assembly constituency is currently represented by Upasna Mohapatra. "The MLA of Brahmagiri had made a clear mistake while voting. But the officer sitting in the voting room who is in charge of this has illegally accepted her vote and has issued a second ballot paper. This is totally against the democratic norms and a violation of election rules," Patnaik said.
The row over cross-voting and 'Operation Lotus' were soaring for a few days before, and voting started on Monday under its fear.
Meanwhile, reports also suggest that 8 MLAs may have engaged in cross-voting in the polls. Dasarathi Gomango, Sofia Firdous, and Ramesh Jena have reportedly voted against the party directive.
Three BJD MLAs, Chakramani Kahnar, Soubhik Biswal, and Subasini Jena, are also suspected of cross-voting. Suspended BJD legislators Sana Mohanty and Arvind Mohapatra have also been suspected of cross-voting.
The row comes a day after four people from Odisha were arrested in Bengaluru on charges of attempting to lure Congress MLAs with an offer of Rs 5 crore to each for cross-voting in the Rajya Sabha polls.
Karnataka Deputy CM called it an attempt at 'Operation Kamala'. Patnaik characterised the development as a "major proof" of previous horse-trading allegations against the BJP.
In an X post, Patnaik claimed that reports are emerging from Bengaluru that four individuals have been arrested "for attempting to hand over blank cheques to MLAs with the intent to buy votes for BJP-supported Rajya Sabha candidates".
The four seats in Odisha are seeing a tight contests, with two each expected to go to BJP and BJD. However, cross-voting can change the final results.