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Bhubaneswar, Mar 14 (PTI) BJD president Naveen Patnaik on Saturday accused the BJP of being involved in "horse trading" in the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls in Odisha, and asserted that such a practice is an "offence" in a democratic process.

His comment comes amid fear of cross-voting during the biennial polls in which five candidates are contesting for four seats in the state.

Senior BJP MLA and former minister Jaynarayan Mishra rejected Patnaik's allegation, claiming that there was no such “horse trading”.

Two official candidates of the BJP are the party’s state unit president Manmohan Samal and sitting Rajya Sabha MP Sujeet Kumar. Former Union minister Dilip Ray is also contesting as an Independent and has the support of the saffron party.

The BJD nominees are party leader Santrupt Misra and eminent urologist Dr Datteswar Hota, whom the Congress and the CPI(M) are supporting.

There is a possibility of cross-voting as neither the ruling BJP nor the opposition BJD has the required numbers to win the fourth seat.

After participating in a mock-poll session on the Odisha assembly premises here, Patnaik said, “The BJP leaders and their three Rajya Sabha candidates are trying their best to trade horses, which is an offence to win this democratic election.” The BJP legislator said the BJD chief has admitted defeat before the Rajya Sabha elections by levelling the horse-trading allegation against the ruling party.

Mishra also said, “A man who suffers from jaundice sees everything yellow. We are not indulging in horse trading, and we have called upon MLAs to vote as per their conscience." He claimed that some MLAs prefer the BJP as they anticipate "no future in the BJD".

“The BJD is sinking, and several of its leaders prefer the BJP. The BJD exists on the wishes of the BJP central leadership,” he claimed.

BJD MLA Byomakesh Ray, who defeated the BJP state president in the last assembly elections, accused Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi of being involved in "horse trading".

“It is unfortunate that the chief minister himself is involved in the horse trading. He (CM) urged MLAs to make a deal. As a chief minister, he should refrain from horse trading," Ray, a three-time legislator from Chandabali in Bhadrak district, told reporters on the assembly premises.

The March 16 voting for the RS polls is being held in Odisha after a gap of 12 years, as this time, five candidates are in the fray for the four seats which will fall vacant on April 2. 

(Disclaimer: This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)