Bhubaneswar: With Rajya Sabha elections scheduled for Monday, March 16, 2026, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Odisha has shifted its MLAs to a luxurious resort in Paradip to ensure discipline and provide intensive training on voting procedures.
Over 70 BJP MLAs and several ministers arrived at May Fair Hotel on Paradip Marine Drive around 11 am on the intervening night of Saturday-Sunday (March 14-15). They traveled in three buses from Bhubaneswar under private escort. Party workers greeted them enthusiastically with horn-blowing and celebratory gestures as the buses entered the hotel premises.
The BJP has booked the hotel for two nights and one day, with private rooms arranged for each legislator. Strict security measures have been deployed around the property. The MLAs will receive detailed training today (Sunday) on how to cast preferential votes in the single transferable vote system for Rajya Sabha elections.
Many BJP MLAs are first-timers in such polls following their recent re-elections or fresh entry into the assembly. The party, holding around 79 seats with independent support, aims to secure at least two, possibly three, of the four vacant seats amid a competitive field of five candidates.
The opposition BJD (48 MLAs) and Congress (14 MLAs) have also issued strict whips and are conducting briefings to prevent cross-voting. Congress has relocated some of its MLAs to a Bengaluru resort amid poaching fears, while BJD MLAs are attending mandatory sessions at Naveen Niwas.
Polling will take place from 9 am to 4 pm on March 16 in the Odisha Assembly premises, with counting later the same day. The exercise comes amid allegations of horse-trading and strategic alliances, particularly for the fourth seat contested between BJP-backed Independent Dilip Ray and BJD-Congress-supported Datteswar Hota.
