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The Odisha Congress accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of engaging in "political engineering" and attempting horse-trading to support Independent candidate Dilip Ray in the Rajya Sabha elections scheduled to be held on Monday.
Addressing a press conference here on Sunday, Odisha Congress president Bhakta Charan Das and Odisha Congress in-charge Ajay Kumar Lallu alleged that the BJP was backing an Independent candidate despite lacking the required numbers, which they claimed was a strategy to influence votes through money power. Lallu alleged that Dilip Ray, during his tenure as Coal Minister, was involved in a corruption case and was later convicted for three years. Questioning the BJP's support for such a candidate, he said the Congress would challenge the matter in the Supreme Court. Lallu further alleged that four individuals attempted to enter a hotel in Bengaluru, where Congress MLAs were staying after arriving to meet the party leadership. According to him, two of the individuals were reportedly arrested by the police and were found carrying blank cheques. He claimed that during questioning, the individuals allegedly admitted that they had been sent by the Independent candidate, Dilip Ray. Meanwhile, Odisha Congress President Bhakta Charan Das also raised concerns about the whereabouts of Congress MLA Dasarathi Gomango, claiming that the legislator has been missing since last week. Das issued an ultimatum stating that if the MLA does not establish contact with the party by 7:00 PM, Congress will initiate legal action against him. He also pointed out the numerical strength in the election, stating that the BJP is aware that it only has 22 votes in its favour. In contrast, the joint candidate supported by the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) and Congress, Datteswar Hota, has the backing of 33 votes, which exceeds the required 30 votes needed to win. The polling for the biennial elections to the Council of States (Rajya Sabha) to fill the 37 seats across 10 states is scheduled to take place on March 16, with the counting of votes on the same day at 5 pm. The term of 37 members who were elected from Maharashtra, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, and Telangana will conclude in the month of April, vacating the seats for new members to be elected. (ANI)
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