New Delhi, March 16 – As voting for the biennial elections to 37 seats in the Rajya Sabha began on Monday, leaders from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as well as the opposition Biju Janata Dal (BJD) appeared confident that their respective candidates would win the elections.
BJP MP Praveen Khandelwal expressed confidence that the NDA would secure a majority.
He said, "Based on numerical strength, the NDA will clearly secure a full majority. There is no doubt about this. Once again, the NDA will raise its flag with even greater strength in the Rajya Sabha."
Amid allegations of bribes being offered to Congress MLAs in Odisha, BJD leader Prasanna Acharya told reporters, "All our MLAs work according to the decisions taken by the party. Today, they will also vote accordingly. We fully trust our MLAs."
Notably, the BJD, on Sunday, issued a whip directing suspended MLAs Sanatan Mahakud and Arvind Mohapatra to vote for the party's authorized candidate. In separate letters, Chief Whip Pramila Mallik stated that despite their suspension for alleged anti-party activities, both legislators remain constitutionally bound to follow the party whip as they were elected on the BJD symbol.
Speaking about allegations of horse-trading against the BJP made by BJD supremo Naveen Patnaik earlier, Acharya said, "We always say that there should be some principle in politics. If the major political parties of India, who speak about ethics and principles every day, work against those then God save the democracy of this country."
Acharya expressed confidence that both BJD candidates would win the elections, "We are confident of winning the election as we work according to the rules, ethics and principles."
BJD MLA Sunil Kumar Mohanty added, "It is definitely a privilege for us that all the MLAs are casting their votes for our first Rajya Sabha candidate. We are anxious and looking forward to a good result for our party."
On the contrary, BJP MLA Tankadhar Tripathy said, "On the very day the Rajya Sabha notification was issued, I had said that the people of Odisha would be happy, while the opposition members would be surprised with the result."
Further, Leader of Opposition in the Jharkhand Assembly, Babulal Marandi, said he was sure that BJP National President Nitin Nabin and Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar will emerge victorious in the polls.
"I congratulate both of them in advance," he said.