Naveen Patnaik on Thursday accepted the resignation of Sasmit Patra as leader of the Biju Janata Dal parliamentary party in the Rajya Sabha. Patra’s resignation followed the defeat of Dutteshwar Hota in the Rajya Sabha elections, despite receiving support from the BJD, Indian National Congress, and Communist Party of India (Marxist). The loss was attributed to cross-voting. In response, the party suspended six MLAs for “anti-party activities,” including cross-voting.

According to a BJD statement, its Disciplinary Committee reviewed the MLAs’ replies to show-cause notices and found that they had violated the party’s core principles. The suspended legislators were Chakramani Kanhar, Naba Kishore Mallick, Souvic Biswal, Subasini Jena, Ramakanta Bhoi, and Devi Ranjan Tripathy. The Bharatiya Janata Party secured two seats from Odisha, while independent candidate Dilip Ray also won with its backing. BJD’s candidate Santrup Mishra was elected, but Hota was defeated. BJD leaders alleged that the BJP engaged in “horse trading.”

On March 29, Patra had also resigned from the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and IT, chaired by Nishikant Dubey, protesting his remarks about former Odisha Chief Minister Biju Patnaik. In his letter to the Rajya Sabha Chairman, Patra stated that he could not continue serving under someone who made disrespectful comments about Biju Patnaik. The Aam Aadmi Party has also faced internal conflict after appointing Ashok Kumar Mittal as Deputy Leader in the Upper House, replacing Raghav Chadha.