New Delhi: Congress on Tuesday expelled three Odisha legislators – Sophia Firdous, Ramesh Jena and Dasarath Gamango – for supporting the Bharatiya Janata Occasion-backed Rajya Sabha candidature of Dilip Ray in Monday’s Senate elections.
It’s not unusual for MLAs to be expelled for defying the whip throughout Indian parliamentary polls, however what stands out on this case is that the Congress has labeled them “traitors”. Mr. Ray is a outstanding businessman from Odisha who has previous ties to the Bharatiya Janata Occasion in addition to the Bharatiya Janata Occasion, and ran as an unbiased candidate with the help of the Bharatiya Janata Occasion.
“Members Ramesh Jena from Sana Khemundi, Sophia Firdous from Barabati Cuttack and Dasarath Gamango from Moksana have been expelled from the occasion for voting for candidates supported by the Bharatiya Janata Occasion in opposition to the occasion whip within the Rajya Sabha elections. Those that betray the Congress betray the nation,” the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) stated in an announcement. assertion.
On social media, the OPCC made a collection of posts focusing on the three MLAs who voted in opposition to it.
One submit about X stated, “Opponents will combat you from outdoors, however traitors will weaken you from inside. #Traitors in #Congress are #Traitors in #Nation,” whereas one other stated, “They crossed the road of their quest for the throne of energy. However the individuals will make the traitors recognized.”
Enemies will combat you from outdoors. Traitors weaken you from inside.#traitor of #assembly enamel #traitor of #nation pic.twitter.com/vcjv5z7S1H
— Odisha Meeting (@INCOdisha) March 16, 2026
OPCC Chairman Bhakta Charan Das had warned on Monday that Parliament would transfer to disqualify the three MLAs below the Tenth Schedule of the Structure, which offers for disqualification on grounds of defection.
Earlier, the Congress had issued show-cause notices to the three MLAs after they revealed their intention to vote in opposition to the occasion via public statements criticizing the occasion’s resolution to affix arms with the BJD. Reacting to the discover, Gamango maintained that the occasion whip is not going to apply within the Rajya Sabha polls.
Firdous, Odisha’s first Muslim feminine MLA, was as soon as thought of a rising star in nationwide politics for her oratory expertise and oratorical expertise, however the resolution was a foregone conclusion after her father, former MLA Mohammed Mokin, was expelled from the occasion in December final 12 months.
The ouster of Mokim, founder and managing director of Metro Group, a outstanding actual property firm in Odisha, comes lower than every week after he wrote a letter to the Congress excessive command warning of “unsuitable choices and unsuitable management selections” and focusing on a extra central function for Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
Of the 4 seats contested in Odisha’s Rajya Sabha on this election, the BJP simply gained two and the BJD one. Ray gained within the remaining one, dealing a blow to the BJD and Congress, which had collectively supported Datteshwar Hota as their candidate.
Aside from three Congress MLAs, as many as eight BJD MLAs additionally voted in opposition to the transfer, regardless of repeated appeals by occasion supremo Naveen Patnaik in opposition to such a transfer. Even in 2002, Ray, who was a union minister within the cupboard led by HD Debegowda, IK Gujral and Atal Bihari Vajpayee, had gained the Rajya Sabha nomination as an unbiased with the help of BJD MLAs who voted in opposition to him.
He was then suspended from the BJD, the occasion he helped discovered together with Biju Patnaik, and was operating as an unbiased candidate. Mr. Ray’s repeat of his 2002 feat additionally places a damper on the primary try in 26 years between the BJD and the Congress, long-time rivals in Odisha politics, to return collectively for a standard trigger.
(Edited by Shashank Kishan)
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