BJP Nominees, Dilip Ray File Nominations for Rajya Sabha Polls from Odisha

Bhubaneswar: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) nominees Manmohan Samal and Sujeet Kumar, along with senior leader Dilip Ray, filed their nomination papers on Thursday for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections from Odisha.

The nominations were submitted at the State Legislative Assembly in the presence of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and senior BJP leaders, including Jayanarayan Mishra.

Dilip Ray filed his nomination as an Independent candidate backed by the BJP to contest against Biju Janata Dal (BJD) nominee Dr. Datteswar Hota for the crucial fourth Rajya Sabha seat. The elections are scheduled to be held on March 16.

Prior to filing his nomination, Ray paid tribute to his mentor and former Odisha Chief Minister Biju Patnaik on the occasion of the veteran leader’s birth anniversary. Expressing confidence, Ray said he was hopeful of winning the contest despite not having the required magic number of 30 first-preference votes. He recalled that he had earlier entered the Rajya Sabha in 2002 through cross-voting.

The BJP’s open support for Ray is being viewed as a strategic move by the party to secure three of the four Rajya Sabha seats from Odisha. However, neither the BJP nor the BJD currently has the numbers to independently win the fourth seat. Based on the present strength in the Assembly, the ruling BJP is expected to comfortably win two seats, while the BJD is likely to secure one.

Under the Rajya Sabha electoral formula, a candidate requires at least 30 first-preference votes to win a seat from Odisha. With the support of 82 MLAs, the BJP is in a strong position to win two seats and will still have 22 surplus votes, falling eight votes short of the number needed for a third seat. As a result, the fourth seat is expected to witness a keen contest between Ray and BJD candidate Dr. Hota. The Indian National Congress has extended its support to Hota.

Meanwhile, BJP’s first nominee and the party’s Odisha president Manmohan Samal is set to enter the Rajya Sabha after a gap of 22 years. A former state minister, Samal had lost the 2024 Assembly elections but was re-elected unopposed in July 2025 as the BJP’s state president for a fourth term. His leadership is widely credited for the BJP’s historic victory in the 2024 Odisha Assembly elections, which ended the BJD’s 24-year rule, as well as the party’s success in the Nuapada by-polls last year.

The other BJP nominee, Sujeet Kumar, is currently a sitting Rajya Sabha MP whose tenure is set to end in April. Kumar had joined the BJP in September 2024 after resigning from the BJD and is now seeking another term in the Upper House with the party’s support.