Ahead of the Rajya Sabha elections scheduled for March 16, legislators from all major parties attended a voting training session at the Assembly Conference Hall in Bhubaneswar.
The Election Commission and Assembly Secretariat conducted the mock poll exercise to familiarise MLAs with the voting process.
Members from BJD, BJP, Congress, and CPI(M) participated in the training. After the session, political exchanges intensified. Opposition leader and BJD president Naveen Patnaik alleged that the BJP was engaging in horse-trading to secure votes for its three candidates. He said such practices undermine democratic values and amount to political malpractice.
Responding to Patnaik’s remarks, BJP leader Jaynarayan Mishra countered that Naveen himself had experience in horse-trading during earlier Rajya Sabha elections when he was Chief Minister. Mishra argued that Patnaik’s comments reflected desperation and claimed that BJD was losing ground. He described the party as a “sinking boat” and asserted that the BJP was not indulging in vote-buying.
