Bhubaneswar, March 20 The six BJD MLAs issued a show cause notice on Friday, asking the party whip to withdraw it, for voting for the BJP-backed independent candidate Dilip Ray in the Rajya Sabha election.
The six MLAs – Chakramani Kanhar (Baliguda), Naba Kishor Mallick (Jayadev), Souvic Biswal (Choudwar-Cuttack), Subasini Jena (Basta), Ramakanta Bhoi (Tirtol), and Devi Ranjan Tripathy (Banki) – were served with show cause notices by BJD Chief Whip Pramila Mallick on March 17, asking them to explain why they voted against the party's decision in the March 16 Rajya Sabha elections.
Tripathy termed the chief whip's notice as "illegal, arbitrary, baseless, and unconstitutional, and tantamount to committing offences punishable under Section 171 & 174 of BNS-2023."
"The language used in your show cause notice not only attracts penal actions contemplated in Section 171 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023 (BNS), but also oversteps the directions of the Election Commission of India, as contained in Press Note No./PN/57/2017, dated 06.07.2017," Tripathy wrote in his response to the show cause notice.
The other five MLAs also replied in a similar manner, sources said.
Reacting to Tripathy's reply, Mallik said, "They have not replied as to why they voted against the party decision. They should not think that the law is only for them. We are also prepared to take shelter under the law if required."
Meanwhile, the BJD's disciplinary committee took serious note of the response of the six MLAs who, instead of explaining their reasons for cross-voting, issued a legal threat.
"The conduct and utterances of the members who were served with show cause notices were reviewed. It was concluded that they were acting against the officially declared party interests, amounting to 'voluntarily' giving up membership," a senior leader of the party told