In a historic political event, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won three of four Rajya Sabha seats from Odisha in the biennial elections held today, marking the state's first contested Upper House votes in 12 years.
The winners were:

• Manmohan Samal (BJP State President)
• Sujeet Kumar (a sitting BJP Rajya Sabha member)
• Dilip Ray (BJP-backed independent candidate and former Union minister) and Santrupt Mishra (Biju Janata Dal nominee).

The BJP, which has a large majority in the 147-member Odisha Assembly with approximately 79 MLAs and independent support, easily claimed the first two seats for its official candidates. The true struggle for the final two seats took place, with cross-voting playing a critical role.

According to estimates, up to 11 MLAs voted for BJP-backed independent Dilip Ray, including six from the opposition BJD, two suspended BJD members, and three from the Congress. This revolt helped Ray defeat the BJD-Congress-CPI(M) joint candidate, prominent urologist Dr Datteswar Hota, who was positioned as a unified opposition nominee to prevent a BJP sweep.
BJD's Santrupt Mishra won his seat with the support of the party's remaining loyal MLAs, securing the necessary preference votes.

The elections saw intense drama, including allegations of horse-trading, vote-buying accusations from the opposition, and a temporary halt in voting over ballot paper disputes. A minor scuffle between BJD and BJP MLAs was also reported during the process.

This outcome reflects the BJP’s strengthened grip on Odisha politics following its historic victory in the 2024 Assembly elections, which ended the 24-year rule of the BJD under Naveen Patnaik.

The cross-voting highlights internal dissent within the opposition ranks and potential cracks in the BJD-Congress understanding.