Amit Shah holds meeting with Odisha’s BJP MLAs, Rajya Sabha poll candidates

Union Home Minister Amit Shah held a meeting with Odisha’s BJP MPs and Rajya Sabha poll candidates ahead of the Upper House elections on March 16.

Mr. Shah, who paid a one-day visit to Odisha on Friday, March 6, 2026, and participated in the marathon official programs, visited the State headquarters of the BJP here and held an important meeting with the Prime Minister, MLAs, MPs, ministers and the three candidates in the fray.

While the party fielded Odisha BJP chief Manmohan Samal and MP Sujeet Kumar as candidates, it supported former Union Minister Dilip Ray, who was contesting as an Independent candidate.

Although Odisha BJP president Manmohan Samal said Mr Shah was discussing “organizational issues”, Bargarh party MP Pradip Purohit said there was also a discussion about the Rajya Sabha elections.

“The MPs who will vote in the March 16 elections have been told to ensure that all three candidates win the elections,” he said.

BJP spokesperson Surath Biswal said it was clear that Shah was discussing the Rajya Sabha elections.

“He is our party’s greatest poll strategist… He suggested how to win the Rajya Sabha polls,” Mr. Biswal said.

Rajya Sabha elections will be held for four seats from Odisha as the terms of Niranjan Bishi and Munna Khan (BJD) and Sujeet Kumar and Mamata Mohanta (BJP) end on April 2.

According to the Rajya Sabha arithmetic in Odisha, a candidate needs to get at least 30 first preference votes to win a seat.

In the current Odisha Assembly, the BJP has the support of 79 MLAs and three Independents; 82 in total, eight fewer than the number needed to elect three MPs. The opposition BJD has 48 MLAs after the suspension of two of its members last month. Once elected, an MP will have a surplus of 18 first preference votes but will need a further 12 votes to win the second seat. Congress has 14 MLAs and CPI(M) has one.

As neither the BJP nor the BJD could win the fourth seat on their own, BJD president Naveen Patnaik proposed a “common” candidate, urologist Dr. He highlighted Datteswar Hota and urged all parties to vote for him.

While the Congress and CPI(M) supported Hota, the BJP supported Dilip Ray.

Meanwhile, according to the Odisha Assembly secretariat, the nomination papers of all the five candidates for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections in Odisha were found valid during the examination on Friday.