After Patnaik, Odisha CM Majhi flies to Delhi ahead of Vice-Presidential polls

A day after BJD president Naveen Patnaik flew to Delhi, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Monday also left for the National Capital ahead of the Vice-Presidential elections.

In Delhi, he may hold a meeting with BJP MPs from Odisha, discussing the Vice-Presidential polls, which will be held on Tuesday, sources said.

He is scheduled to return to Odisha on Tuesday.

Majhi’s fresh visit to Delhi comes after he returned to Odisha on September 5 following his five-day tour of the National Capital.

Of the 31 MPs (21 in Lok Sabha and 10 in Rajya Sabha) of Odisha, the BJP has the highest number of 23 members who will cast their votes in the Vice-Presidential polls.

The BJD has seven MPs in Rajya Sabha, and the Congress has one Lok Sabha MP from the state.

Majhi may hold a meeting with BJP lawmakers from Odisha at the official residence of Balasore MP Pratap Sarangi in the national capital, sources said.

Majhi may directly go to Sarangi’s residence from the airport.

Apart from the Chief Minister, Odisha BJP president Manmohan Samal, the party’s state in-charge Vijay Pal Singh Tomar and other senior leaders may also attend the meeting, the sources said.

The visit of BJD chief Patnaik, who is also the leader of the opposition in the state assembly, gains significance as his party has not yet cleared its stand on the vice presidential polls.

Patnaik, during his stay in Delhi, may meet the party’s seven MPs.

The BJD supremo, in an X post on Sunday night, however, said, “I am in Delhi for few days for some social commitments.”

Sources in the BJD, on the other hand, said that Patnaik will ensure that all his party MPs take a united stand in the polls. This is because the party was criticised for split-voting in the Rajya Sabha on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024.

While five BJD MPs voted in favour of the Bill, one opposed it and another MP abstained.

Besides the vice presidential polls, Majhi may hold a discussion with top BJP leaders on the expansion of his council of ministers, sources said.

Although almost 15 months have passed since the BJP formed its maiden government in Odisha, at least six ministerial berths have been lying vacant, with many ministers handling multiple departments, thus affecting their work efficiency, they said.

Similarly, chairpersons of different state-run corporations and boards were yet to be appointed.