By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR: Local entrepreneur, belongs to upper rich family background of Kalikaprasad of Champua block in Keonjhar, Industrialist -Cum -Hotelier Shrinibash Sahoo’s possible entry into Odisha Rajya Sabha polls may ignite district politics, home to Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi.
Even though there is no publicly available information or reports indicating that industrialist Shrinibash Sahoo, fondly called as ‘Shrini Bhai’ is planning to enter or has been selected by any political party for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections from Odisha but grapevines are there .
Sahoo is a prominent Odisha-based entrepreneur, corporate giant, and over 27 years of experience in corporate governance and is associated with at least 18 companies across sectors like agro-tech, mining, and hospitality.
Sources said, after Naveen Patnaik voted out of power, pro-BJD Mines owners and industrialists are now running pillar to post while those close to BJP, have now started playing their cards.
Sources said, CM Majhi is seriously considering to send a Keonjhar born people to Rajya Sabha on BJP ticket and he is reportedly eyeing on Industrialist -Cum -Hotelier Shrinibash Sahoo.
Since BJP came to power in Odisha and Mohan Majhi became CM, at least 2 Odia Industrialist belongs to Keonjhar like Industrialist -Cum -Hotelier Shrinibash Sahoo and Kashiv Group of Companies Chairman Debabrata Behera aka Dilu Behera seems registering their supremacy while RJ Transport’s Mata Jaiswal and Rajesh Jaiwal playing their cards in transportation.
Sahoo, Behera and Jaiswal’s possible rise now worries Champua MLA Sanatan Makahud and senior BJD leader Badri Patra. This was evident from the desperate attempt of Champua MLA Sanatan Mahakud to switch to BJP in near future and he is also coming close to CM Majhi and openly praising him while denouncing his former Boss Naveen Patnaik. CM Majhi wants his supremacy in Keonjhar after a long battle against BJD and Congress in the district.
Industrialist -Cum -Hotelier Shrinibash Sahoo and Kashiv Group of Companies Chairman Debabrata Behera aka Dilu Behera are now 2 leading faces in mining and industry sectors in Keonjhar and happens to be very close to CM Majhi.
Keonjhar based Mines owner Dipti Ranjan Patnaik also reportedly planning to fight Rajya Sabha polls and eyeing on Congress and BJD Votes.
Rajya Sabha elections for four seats from Odisha are expected around March 2026, as the terms of the following current members expire on April 2, 2026:
These seats are elected by members of the Odisha Legislative Assembly, where the BJP currently holds a majority.
Based on the current composition of the Odisha Legislative Assembly and recent political developments, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has a realistic shot at winning 2 or possibly 3 of the 4 Rajya Sabha seats up for election in April 2026, but securing all 4 would be highly challenging and depend on significant cross-voting, defections, or strategic disruptions within the opposition—scenarios that are possible given ongoing dissent in the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) but far from guaranteed.
To break it down: Odisha sends 10 members to the Rajya Sabha in total, with terms staggered every two years. The 4 seats retiring on April 2, 2026, are currently held by Mamata Mohanta (BJP), Sujeet Kumar (BJP), Munna Khan (BJD), and Niranjan Bishi (BJD).These will be filled through indirect elections by the state’s 147 MLAs using the single transferable vote (STV) system, where the quota to win a seat is approximately 30 first-preference votes (calculated as floor(147 / 5) + 1).
The BJP, which formed the government after winning the 2024 assembly polls, controls 79 MLAs directly, plus support from 3 independents, bringing its effective strength to around 82. This gives them enough votes to comfortably secure 2 seats (like, by allocating roughly 30 votes each to two candidates, leaving a remainder of 22). Analysts project they could push for a third seat by leveraging that remainder through vote transfers in the STV process, especially if smaller parties or independents align with them.
The opposition’s position is weaker but not negligible. The BJD holds 48 MLAs (down from 51 after recent suspensions of Champua MLA Sanatan Mahakud and Patkura MLA Arvinda Mohapatra and loss in Nuapada byepolls ), which is sufficient for at least 1 seat (for example
, 30 votes for one candidate, remainder 18). The Congress has 14 MLAs, too few to win a seat independently but potentially influential as a “kingmaker” if they ally with the BJD or trade votes. A CPI(M) MLA and one more independent round out the numbers. Proportional to strength, this setup points to BJP winning 2-3 seats and BJD 1, with the fourth likely going to the side that best manages remainders and transfers.
For the BJP to sweep all 4, they’d need to effectively control around 120 votes (4 x 30), which is impossible without major opposition fractures. However, there’s precedent and current buzz suggesting this isn’t entirely out of reach: The BJD has been hit by internal dissent since its 2024 defeat, including the recent suspension of two MLAs for “anti-party activities” amid fears of cross-voting in the upcoming polls. In 2024, two of the retiring seats (held by Mohanta and Kumar) were originally BJD but flipped to BJP after the incumbents defected. Similar horse-trading or defections from disgruntled BJD MLAs could tip the balance, especially if Congress votes scatter or get poached. Odisha politics has a history of pragmatic cross-support and surprises, like the 2002 Rajya Sabha polls where 15 BJD MLAs defied party lines.
