Hotelier and former Union Coal Minister Dilip Ray will contest the Rajya Sabha elections as an independent candidate. | Photo credit: Special arrangement
Hotelier and former Union Coal Minister Dilip Ray on Tuesday (March 3, 2026) entered the fray in the Rajya Sabha elections as an independent candidate supported by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), in a fascinating contest.
Odisha is represented by 10 members in the Rajya Sabha – seven MPs from the BJD and three MPs from the BJP. The terms of BJD MPs Niranjan Bishi and Muzibulla Khan along with BJP MPs Mamata Mohanta and Sujeet Kumar will expire on April 2.
In the 147-member Odisha Assembly, the BJP has 79 seats, followed by the BJD with 50 and the Congress with 14. There is one member from the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) and three members are independents. The BJP currently has the support of all three independent MLAs. Meanwhile, the BJD’s effective strength has dropped to 48 following the suspension of Patkura MLA Arvind Mohapatra and Champua MLA Santana Mahakud for alleged anti-party activities.
With a candidate requiring a minimum of 30 first preference votes to ensure victory, the BJP can comfortably elect two members to the Rajya Sabha, while the BJD can ensure the election of one. The BJP has announced its state unit president Manmohan Samal and Rajya Sabha MP Sujeet Kumar as its candidates. The BJD’s first choice is Santrupt Mishra, political advisor to former Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. Their election to the Rajya Sabha is almost certain.
However, neither party has the numerical strength to guarantee the victory of a fourth candidate. The BJD announced Datteswar Hota as a joint candidate with the support of the Congress. If both sides manage to keep their flock together, a victory for Dr. Hoty will be provided. Together, the two parties have 62 members in the Odisha Assembly.
“I will file my nomination on March 5. I will seek support from all parties,” Mr. Ray, a founding member of the BJD, told reporters. He said he met Chief Minister Mohan Majhi and BJP state chief Mr. Samal.
The party has decided in principle to support Mr. Ray’s candidature, Mr. Samal said.
In 2002, after Mr. Ray, coal minister in the National Democratic Alliance government under the late Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, was expelled from the BJD, he entered the fray in a similar fashion and won a sensational victory, with BJD and BJP MLAs bucking the party line to support his candidature.
If Mr Ray could win when Mr Biju Patnaik was all powerful in Odisha, the BJD appears weaker this time and the Congress might find it challenging to keep its MLAs united, political analysts said.
Published – 03 March 2026 21:10 IST
