Bhubaneswar: With ruling BJD coming under
attack over alleged horse-trading during last year`s Rajya
Sabha polls, Orissa government on Saturday referred the matter to
the Election Commission for appropriate action.
"The matter relating to Rajya Sabha elections 2010 has
been sent to the Election Commission of India for appropriate
action," Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik told reporters.
After examination by the Home and Law departments, it
was decided to refer the matter to the EC, he said.
Amidst mounting attack on ruling BJD from opposition
parties over the "horse-trading" issue, the chief minister had
asked the home department to thoroughly examine the matter
about a week ago, officials said.
The chief minister had initially sought more time to act
on the matter while reacting to alleged involvement of two
ministers in horse-trading.
Besides the other two, the BJD`s third candidate in
last year`s Rajya Sabha election won after three opposition
MLAs -- two from Congress and one from BJP -- abstained during
voting, triggering the horsetrading allegation.
Congress suspended Shibaji Majhi from the party and
demanded a CBI probe into the matter and resignation of two
ministers and the chief minister for allegedly adopting
fradulent means to win the polls.
BJP also suspended its MLA Bhimsen Choudhury from the
party a year ago after horse-trading slur surfaced.
PTI
